Wmi 






mggggmmmm m&gm.x%ggg3&^ 



i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 

m B 



1 I 

SUXITED STATES OF AMERICA. B 
BB«sigi«2sssss«^ss2sasss«Hal 



THOUGHTS 

OF 

FAVOURED HOURS, 

UPON 
AND 

OTHEE SUBJECTS. 



•'•' While I was musing the fire burned.' - — Ps. xxxix. 3. 



BY JOSIAH COPLEY^. 

Oct 2£ 



0? YR 'C>y^ 



PHILADELPHIA : 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
1858. 



.Cl8 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1858, \>y 

J* B. LIPPIXCOTT & CO. 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Eastern Listrict of Pennsylvania. 



LC Control Number 



tmp96 



027348 



PEEFACE. 



Every Christian knows that there are favoured 
hours, when Truth shines with more than usual 
Drightness, and when both the head and the heart 
find it to be a relief rather than a labour to express 
thought, whether with the tongue or the pen. It 
was at such seasons that the papers composing 
this little volume were written. 

The writer's object was rather to suggest than 
to elaborate thought ; to lead the mind of his 
reader a little aside from the beaten paths of 
religious discussion ; to find some untrodden spots 
in the green pastures where the Good Shepherd 
leads his flock : at the same time keeping carefully 
within their boundaries. 

A glance at the index will show that the work 
is, in the fullest sense of the word, miscellaneous ; 
that it takes a wide range ; and that it is what it 
was intended to be, — a companion for a leisure or 
a lonely hour, a book for the centre-table, the 
parlour-window, or the bed-chamber. Those 
minor questions which divide evangelical Chris- 
tians into distinctive sects and parties are not 
touched. 

Kittanning, Pa., August, 1858. 

3 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Cornelius 7 

Mission and Poverty of Christ, 19 

Philip's Short Method . 26 

Satan Tempting Christ 31 

The Affair of the Tribute-Money 41 

Christ and the Woman of Samaria 50 

The Blind Man receiving Sight 59 

Confessing Christ 68 

Tlie Last Interview 73 

The Denial of Peter 79 

"Abide with ns" 85 

Paul and the Jailer 89 

The Case of Onesimus 98 

Types 106 

The Marriage of Isaac Ill 

Jacob's Interview with Pharaoh 125 

Moses in Exile 131 

1* 5 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Character of Solomon 138 

Elisha, Naaman, and Gehazi 150 

The Pot of Oil 164 

Agur's Prayer 169 

Jonah's Gourd 174 

Spiritual Stores 182 

England and Pome 185 

National Life and Growth 206 

The March of Empire 219 

God's Dwelling-Place 229 

" I will trust and not be afraid" 235 

Mr. N and the Universalist 242 

Noah's Dove 246 

Jerusalem 248 

Life and Death 252 

The Heart 262 

Heaven — Its Attractions 265 

Heaven — A Local Habitation 267 

Resurrection of the Body 273 

Endless Progress 281 



THOUGHTS OF FAVOUKED HOUKS. 



€umlim. 

In the days of Christ and his apostles, 
Judea was a subjugated province of the 
Eoman Empire, and the power of the subor- 
dinate rulers under the Emperor was main- 
tained by numerous garrisons of soldiers. 
These soldiers constituted the police of the 
country, and were the agents in executing 
sentence upon persons condemned to death or 
to corporeal punishment. A band of soldiers 
crucified the Saviour; and when Peter was 
confined in prison he slept between two 
soldiers. Over this scattered police-soldiery 
there were many officers, called centurions. 
They were competent to command one hun- 
dred men, as the name indicates, although it 

7 



8 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

is not probable that the number under their 
command was often full. 

Four centurions are distinctly mentioned 
in the New Testament, and all favourably. 
The one who applied to our Lord to heal his 
servant, and who exhibited such admirable 
humility and faith. " Lord/' said he, " I am 
not worthy that thou shouldst come unoler 
my roof; but speak the word, and my servant 
shall live." The second in order is the one 
who attended upon the crucifixion of the 
Saviour, and who, seeing the natural prodigies 
which attended his death, smote upon his 
breast, exclaiming, " Surely this was the Son 
of God !" The third is Cornelius, of whom 
we propose to speak; and the fourth is the 
one who treated Paul so courteously on his 
voyage to Eome. That such excellence of 
character should be found among military 
men, heathens, is well calculated to disarm 
prejudice and check harsh, undiscriminating 
judgment upon entire classes. And such 
susceptibility to divine truth and sacred 
impressions as we find manifested by these 
men is well calculated to inspire hope in 
reference to the entire Gentile world, the 
great majority of whom are yet ignorant of 
the Saviour. 



CORNELIUS. 9 

What was Cornelias? That he was a 
Roman military officer we have already seen. 
But what was his condition as a religious 
man? Was he a heathen? No; for his 
residence in Palestine had made him in some 
measure acquainted with the true God ; and 
him he feared and worshipped sincerely and 
fervently. He is called a devout man, — one 
who 1 feared God and prayed to him always. 
Was he a proselyte to Judaism? £To; for, 
had he been so, Peter would not have hesi- 
tated to enter into his house and hold com- 
munion with him in worship. What, then, 
was he? In his outward relations he was a 
heathen ; but in his heart he was, according 
to the light he had, a true worshipper of the 
God of Israel; for we are told that his prayers 
and alms had come up as a memorial before 
God. His condition, when we first hear of 
him, is an anomalous one; but he is neverthe- 
less one of the most highly-favoured of men, 
— chosen in the adorable sovereignty of God 
to be the first-born of many brethren, the 
forerunner of a multitude of redeemed ones 
that no man can number, redeemed from the 
Gentile world. In his person the middle 
wall of partition was broken down between 
Jews and Gentiles. In his house they both 



10 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

became one in Christ Jesus. In his house 
that door was opened that can never again 
be shut until the consummation of all things, 
when the dread proclamation shall be made, 
"He that is holy, let him be holy still, and 
he that is filthy, let him be filthy still," — that 
door through which we have entered into the 
kingdom of heaven, if indeed we are par- 
takers of it at all. Viewed in this light, the 
10th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles is a 
narrative of exceeding interest. What the 
call of Abraham was to the Hebrews the call 
and conversion of Cornelius is to us Gentiles. 
He is our representative, our forerunner, our 
exemplar. 

Cornelius was "a devout man, and one that 
feared God with all his house; which gave 
much alms to the people, and prayed to God 
always." "Why," exclaims the superficial 
reader, "here is a man who was every whit 
a Christian, especially when it is added that 
his prayers and alms had come up with 
acceptance in the sight of God." But no; 
he was not a Christian yet. He was a devout 
man, a praying man, a benevolent man ; and 
doubtless these virtues which shone so re- 
splendent in his character were the genuine 
fruits of the Holy Spirit, who was leading 



CORNELIUS. 11 

him in the right path, but had not yet led 
him to Christ; and, in order to complete the 
good work which he had begun, it was neces- 
sary that he should be farther instructed. 
To this end an angel is sent to him; and 
what did the angel say? Did he tell Cor- 
nelius of the Saviour? Not at all. He makes 
not the most remote allusion to him. Al- 
though angels are ministering spirits to the 
heirs of salvation, and have often been the 
agents in imparting to men important reve- 
lations, they are not permitted to preach the 
gospel. This distinguished honour is given 
to men; this treasure is contained in earthen 
vessels, that the excellency may be of God; 
to men, who have themselves been redeemed 
by the precious blood of Christ, — men who 
by faith are made partakers of Christ, and 
are more intimately allied to him than angels 
can be, — men who, through the wondrous 
agency of redeeming grace, are made one 
with Christ, participants in his righteousness 
and his glory, — it is given to make known to 
their fallen brethren the unsearchable riches 
of Christ, and to open to them the kingdom 
of heaven. The angel bore to Cornelius a 
message of divine commendation, and then 
added, " Send men to Joppa, and call for one 



12 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

Simon, whose surname is Peter: . . . he shall 
tell thee what thou oughtest to do." Thus we 
see that the piety of Cornelius was good as 
far as it went, but that it was deficient. 
Such a religion, had it stopped here, could 
not have saved him. This Cornelius knew; 
and doubtless his unceasing praj-er was for 
more light; and his prayer was abundantly 
answered. 

"Send men to Joppa," said the angel. 
The command was one that Cornelius could 
easily obey, for he was a man in authority, 
having soldiers under him. He could say to 
one, Go, and he went, and to another, Do 
this, and it was done. All God's commands 
are reasonable and just. "Go wash in the 
pool of Siloam," said Jesus to the blind man. 
This he could do without difficulty, although 
it might have been out of his power to "send 
men to Joppa." "Wash seven times in Jor- 
dan," is the sovereign command of Elisha to 
Naaman the Syrian, as the condition of his 
being recovered of his leprosy. iSlaaman's 
pride for a time revolted at the thought of so 
simple a prescription; but Cornelius was not 
for one moment disobedient to the heavenly 
vision. "Send men to Joppa, and call for 
one Simon, whose surname is Peter." " One 



CORNELIUS. 13 

Simon." The expression plainly denotes that 
Cornelius, until that moment, was entirely 
ignorant of the existence of the man who is 
thus appointed to be his teacher; nor does 
the angel tell him any thing about him, save 
that he lodged at the house of another Simon, 
a tanner, whose house was by the seaside. 
He is not informed that Simon is a follower 
of Jesus of Nazareth, who had recently been 
crucified at Jerusalem ; in short, he was left 
in profound ignorance as to the nature of the 
instructions he was to receive ; yet he stag- 
gered not at the command, nor at the promise 
that he should tell him what he ought to do. 
His obedience, therefore, was very similar to 
that of Abraham when he complied with the 
divine command to leave his kindred and his 
native country and sojourn in a land which 
God would show him, — "not knowing whither 
he went." 

"Send men to Joppa." How many? That 
is left to Cornelius himself; but there must 
be more than one. He sent three : but had 
he seen proper to send twelve his obedience 
would have been equally good, but no better. 
Send mien, not a man; send men, not a letter 
or a message. Thus we see the obedience of 
Cornelius was perfect, although the number 



14 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

of his messengers was left discretionary. 
God has left many things pertaining to the 
means of grace to the wisdom and discretion 
of his people. 

While the men were on their journey, God 
was preparing Peter for the discharge of a 
new and strange duty. He was a Jew, and 
was strongly tinctured with Jewish preju- 
dices. By them the nations of the Gentile 
world were regarded as outcasts, as unclean 
and accursed. During the ages of the Mosaic 
economy — nay, from the call of Abraham — 
they had been a separate and peculiar people; 
but that wise and righteous interdiction 
against their mingling with their idolatrous 
neighbours had degenerated into an unholy 
and inveterate prejudice, — a prejudice so 
deep-rooted that it required a wondrous 
allegorical vision to remove it from the mind 
of even an inspired apostle. But the same 
Spirit which was carrying on a good work 
in the heart of Cornelius, and preparing him 
to embrace the Saviour, thus taught Peter 
that he erred when he supposed that salvation 
was confined to his nation. All things being 
thus arranged, the apostle accompanied the 
messengers of Cornelius promptly and with- 
out gainsaying. 



CORNELIUS. 15 

When Peter arrived at the house of Cor- 
nelius, the latter exhibited a trace of heathen- 
ism in falliog at the feet of the apostle and 
worshipping him as a demigod. No doubt 
Cornelius supposed that a being of whom an 
angel is sent from heaven to apprize him 
must necessarily be divine. Peter having 
corrected this mistake and checked this 
incipient idolatry, they all went in together 
and made up what was certainly one of the 
most interesting worshipping assemblies ever 
seen in this world. Cornelius, having learned 
to regard his guest and teacher as a fellow- 
man, then rehearsed, in calm and dignified 
language, the particulars of the vision with 
which he had been favoured. While Cor- 
nelius spoke, a new and grand idea burst upon 
the mind of Peter; and at the close of the 
remarks of his Gentile friend he exclaims, in 
accents of astonishment and adoration, "Of 
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter 
of persons; but in every nation he that 
feareth him and worketh righteousness is 
accepted of him." Thus that door which 
had for ages debarred the Gentile, as such, 
from the Church of God on earth, and upon 
whose ponderous bolts and bars the rust of 
almost two thousand years had accumulated, 



16 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

is thrown open, and Jews and Gentiles, cir- 
cumcised and uncircumcised, mingle in de- 
lightful harmony at the feet of their common 
Saviour and Lord, and are baptized with the 
same water and the same Spirit. It was a 
great and glorious event; and all its con- 
comitants were in perfect keeping, and are 
as instructive as they are delightful. 

" I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom 
of heaven" said Christ to Peter. Do we not, 
in the great events w T hich occurred on the 
day of Pentecost and in the house of Cor- 
nelius, see him discharging the grand and 
mysterious commission he then received ? On 
the first occasion his proclamation was, a Ye 
men of Israel, hear these words;" and then he 
set before them an open door, through which 
thousands of them immediately pressed for 
safety and salvation. And in the house of 
Cornelius we behold him wielding another 
key, at the use of which he himself seems to 
be startled. Thus was it given to that illus- 
trious man to open the kingdom of heaven 
to both Jews and Gentiles. 

The Holy Ghost, we are informed, accom- 
panied the words of the apostle; and Cor- 
nelius and his company believed the gospel, 
embraced the Saviour, were made partakers 



CORNELIUS. 17 

of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
united with their Jewish brethren in the 
high praises of their common God and 
Saviour, and were baptized, and thus fully 
inducted into the Christian Church. 

In this transaction two great truths are 
held up for our contemplation and encourage- 
ment. The first is, that the honest, earnest 
seeker for truth is sure to find it. Such was 
Cornelius. That is a precious promise which 
declares that " to the upright light shall arise 
in the darkness." Cornelius was a devout 
man even while immersed in almost heathen- 
ish darkness. His devotion was honest and 
sincere, and his works were good. When he 
is first introduced to us he is in a transition- 
state. God has begun a good work in his 
heart; but it is imperfect. He is a good 
man, but not a Christian. He is near the 
kingdom of God, but not yet in it. It were 
impious to suppose that Cornelius, or any 
other man in like condition, could be left 
without further light. In some way or other, 
God, whose work is always perfect, will see 
to it that the sincere seeker of truth and sal- 
vation shall find them ; and that man makes 
a perilous assertion who says that he has 
sought for the truth and failed to find it. 



18 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

The second great truth taught here is that 
prayers, even such as come up with accept- 
ance before God, and alms, even though well- 
pleasing in the sight of Heaven, are not 
sufficient of themselves to secure salvation. 
Good a man as Cornelius was, it was neces- 
sary that Christ should be revealed to him, 
and that he should believe in him and trust 
in him for salvation. What now becomes of 
the moralist, who thinks to secure the divine 
favour and mercy upon the strength of his 
blameless life and his active benevolence? 
He has heard of Christ, but he imagines he 
does not need him. Did Cornelius need the 
Saviour, — this man of devotion, of prayer, 
and of charity to the poor? Certainly he 
did; else why send men to Joppa for one 
Simon, who should tell him what to do? 
Was he not doing well? Did not an angel 
from heaven assure him that his prayers and 
alms had come up as a memorial before God? 
and yet Peter must come and tell him what 
to do ! Oh ! if Cornelius's works could not save 
him, whose can ? But Cornelius, with all his 
devotion, with all his alms, was a sinner, and 
needed to be washed in the blood of Christ, — 
needed to be united to him by a living faith. 
He, and the thief on the cross, and the jailer 



MISSION AND POVERTY OF CHRIST. 19 

of Philippi, must all be saved in the same 
way; and this day their united voices blend 
in the song, "To Him that loved us, and 
washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
and hath made us kings and priests unto God 
and his Father, to him be glory and dominion 
for ever and ever. Amen." 



The advent of Christ is the great event in 
the annals of time. It is not one event among 
many, but the centre to which all other 
events are subsidiary, and for which the race 
of man exists. 

He came, heralded by a train of prop>hets 
reaching from Enoch, before the flood, to the 
Baptist, who pointed out the humble Galilean 
to the people of Israel as "the Lamb of God." 
Their lofty strains had awakened in the 
breasts of the people of that generation a 
confident expectation that He of whom Moses 
and the prophets wrote would shortly ap- 
pear; but when he did come they knew him 
not. They looked for a mighty temporal 



20 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

Prince, a Deliverer of Israel, a Eestorer of 
its kingdom. Their views were carnal, 
earthly, and contracted. Indeed, it was im- 
possible for them to conceive of such a king- 
dom as he did establish. Their preconcep- 
tions were altogether natural ; but their fault 
lay in their obstinate adherence to their 
erroneous preconceptions after Jesus of Na- 
zareth had, by mighty signs and wonders, 
attested his claim to be that great One whose 
coming they expected and longed for. But, 
because he did not appear in the manner they 
had expected, they rejected him, shutting 
their eyes against the clearest light of truth 
and evidence. 

The Son of God, who had control of all things 
in heaven and in earth, had it in his power to 
take any condition in life that he chose. He 
could have been rich. He could have clothed 
himself with outward majesty transcending 
that of the mightiest monarchs. He could 
have brought all mankind to his feet as vassals 
and servants, and laid all nations under 
tribute ; and, had he done so, the preconcep- 
tions of the Jews would have been met. He 
had it in his power to invest himself with 
the terrors of God, as Moses and Elijah were 
invested ; but that would not have comported 



MISSION AND POVERTY OF CHRIST. 21 

with the nature of his mission. Moses was 
a representative of the sovereignty and au- 
thority of the Almighty; Elijah, of his se- 
verity, — for in him it was proclaimed, not in 
words, but in deeds, that "our God is a con- 
suming fire;" but Jesus was the embodiment 
of his love. He came, not to destroy men's 
lives, but to save them. He came to seek 
and to save that which was lost ; to heal the 
broken-hearted; to bear the sins of many; 
and to bring in an everlasting righteous- 
ness. 

He had power to take any condition in life 
that he chose; and, being guided by unerring 
wisdom, his choice would necessarily be a 
good one. He was born of a poor woman, 
became a member of an obscure family, for 
whose maintenance, together with his own, 
he laboured with his hands until he was 
about thirty years of age. So completely 
did he veil his divinity that he was only 
known as "the carpenter's son," and as a 
carpenter himself. 

The signs and wonders which had been 
shown at his birth seem to have been for- 
gotten. Good old Simeon, and Anna the pro- 
phetess, and Zacharias the priest, are dead. 
The shepherds who heard the angels sing 



22 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

are perhaps dead or scattered; but they might 
have adopted the language of the prophet 
and exclaimed, "Who hath believed our re- 
port ?" The wise men had long since gone 
back to their homes in the East, there to medi- 
tate upon the mysterious nature of the Star 
and the Babe of Bethlehem, until they should 
be called up higher, where, with still more 
exceeding joy, they should gaze upon, and 
contemplate, and adore the glory and beauty 
of the Star of Jacob. 

But the whole nation of Israel lay in pro- 
found ignorance of the fact that He for whose 
coming they had so long waited was even 
then among them. The wonders which 
attended his birth, the words of the aged 
Simeon, the predictions of Anna, the slaughter 
of the children, — all, all had passed out of the 
popular mind; and thus the Shiloh of Jacob, 
the Prophet of Moses, the Star of Balaam, the 
Man of Sorrows of Isaiah, the Messiah of 
Daniel, the Branch of Zechariah, the Sun of 
Righteousness of Malachi, lay hidden from the 
gaze of the world in the humble mechanic 
of Nazareth. Yet he did not hide his light; 
for, although we have an account of but one 
single incident in his life from infancy to 
mature manhood, — the interview, at the age 



MISSION AND POVERTY OF CHRIST. 28 

of twelve years, with the doctors in the 
temple, — that is enough to show us that he 
was full of grace and truth, and excellent in 
wisdom and understanding, during all the 
years of his obscurity, poverty, and toil. 

Such, then, was the condition in life, freely 
chosen, of the Son of God; and if it was 
good for him, O poor toiling Christian, is it 
not good for you ? Poor as you may be, you 
have more of this world's goods than he had. 
You have a place to lay your head; he had 
not during the years of his public ministry. 
You have a home, be it ever so humble; he 
had none. In poverty, as in every thing 
else, he had the pre-eminence. Let this 
thought reconcile us to our lot, whatever it 
may be. We cannot suffer as he suffered, 
for we are not able to bear it; nor will he 
suffer us to reach his depth of poverty and 
destitution. 

Surely that cannot be a had condition of 
life which Jesus chose as the best. It is not 
desirable to flesh and sense ; but his history 
shows that it is very profitable. ]STo one ever 
lived who could more appropriately use the 
petition which he taught us, "Give us this 
day our daily bread," than he. His was em- 
phatically a life of faith and dependence; 



24 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

and who among his true disciples would not 
be willing to follow in his footsteps ? 

His poverty was to him a source of keen 
suffering and trial ; for it not only subjected 
him at times to the pangs of hunger and the 
humiliation of being a beneficiary of the 
bounty of others, but it would cause him to 
be treated with neglect and contempt; for 
human nature was the same then that it is 
now. Yet, notwithstanding all this, he chose 
that condition as the best. 

And why the best ? Because it was a con- 
dition which called into active exercise the 
graces of faith and trust; because it set him 
above the world, and prevented it from 
thrusting itself in between him and his 
Father; because it behooved him to become 
in all things like unto his brethren, and to 
show them by his own example what is good 
for them. He, as before remarked, sunk 
deeper in poverty than he will ever suffer us 
to sink, for he will not lay upon us more or 
heavier trials than we are able to bear; but 
his example shows us that, however unde- 
sirable poverty may be in itself, it is never- 
theless often the best condition which God, in 
his wise providence, can assign us. To some 
he may give large possessions, with grace to 



MISSION AND POVERTY OF CHRIST. 25 

use them aright ; but this is by no means a 
mark of special favour. To be rich in faith 
is far better than to be rich in silver and gold 
and houses and lands. Paul was a poor man; 
yet who can conceive the riches of his in- 
heritance even in this mortal life? He re- 
ceived, as his Master promised he should, 
"more than a hundredfold in this present life" 
of all he sacrificed. 

"Thou shalt have no other gods before 
me," is a commandment very difficult to keep 
by a man who is full of this world's goods; 
for that which we depend upon and trust in 
is our god, be it what it may. In this im- 
portant sense, therefore, a comparative desti- 
tution of these tangible objects of trust will 
bring us more to God, the Fountain of all good 
things ; and, if we are able to keep the first 
commandment of the Decalogue, we shall 
not lack grace to render a good degree of 
obedience to all the rest; for if we have no 
other god before us we shall never lack the 
presence of the true God. 

But we may not seek poverty for its own 
sake, any more than we may seek sickness, 
pain, or sorrow. When God sends these 
things in the way of trial and discipline, they 
are good; but if self-inflicted, or voluntary, 



26 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

they are evil and only evil. Of this truth 
we have examples in the Romish and Hindoo 
superstitions. Our business is to be diligent 
in the pursuit of temporal blessings j and if 
our exertions result in wealth, it is well; but 
if not, it is still well. But, be our condition 
what it may, let us never forget that He in 
whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead 
bodily 

"Had not earth whereon to lay his head." 



IPj'j Sfcort SMprfc 

Who among us is free from prejudice ? Not 
one. Even Nathanael — of whom the Saviour 
himself testified that he was an Israelite in- 
deed, in whom there was no guile — was not 
exempt from it. 

After Jesus had called Philip to be a dis- 
ciple, "Philip findeth JSTathanael, and saith 
unto him, We have found him of whom 
Moses in the law and the prophets did write, 
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." This 
was great and joyful news; but Nazareth 
was mentioned; and Nathanael happened to 



Philip's short method. 27 

have taken up a most contemptuous opinion 
of Nazareth; a mere prejudice, to be sure, 
but just such a prejudice as even good men 
are too apt to take up and cherish respecting 
men, and things, and sects, and places. 

Philip, in the fulness of his heart, told his 
friend of his great discovery ; but how must 
the warm current of his affections have 
rolled back upon his heart, contracted and 
chilled, at the cold inquiry, " Can there any 
good thing come out of Nazareth V Now, 
according to our ordinary notions, Philip 
might have gone into an argument to prove 
that some good thing might come out of Naza- 
reth, and Nathan ael might have continued 
to sneer at so foolish a notion; thus (as is 
the case in most controversies of the kind) 
strengthening the prejudices of one party 
and estranging the hearts of both. But 
Philip was a meek and a wise man, and 
adopted a very different course. "Come and 
see," said he; and he made no other reply 
to NathanaeFs captious objection. Nathanael 
did go and see; and before he had been one 
minute in the company of the despised Na- 
zarene, in adoring wonder, he exclaimed, 
"Kabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art 
the King of Israel !" 



28 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

That was the way to cure prejudice then, 
and it is equally efficacious now. Have any 
of our Christian brethren taken up erroneous 
impressions of our views and practices as 
Christians? Let us ask them, as Philip did, to 
come and see, — ask them, as Philip did, in the 
sincerity and fervour of Christian affection, 
— and nine-tenths of the petty barriers that 
divide Christ's flock into little bands, who 
eye each other with coldness and jealousy, 
would give way; and those who are really 
one in Christ Jesus would find dear brethren 
in many whom they had hitherto regarded 
as rivals, or heretics, or aliens. And let us 
be ever ready, as Nathanael was, to go and 
see. It is certainly the simplest and safest 
wa}' to obey the divine injunction, to prove 
all things and hold fast that which is good. 
Nathanael, by going to see, proved one all- 
important truth ; and we, by following his 
example, may get rid of many foolish and 
hurtful prejudices, that now chill our own 
hearts and wound and injure those whom 
we ought to treat as beloved brethren. 

This subject reminds me of an anecdote 
which a lady related to me many years ago. 
In one of the eastern counties of Pennsyl- 
vania there lived a faithful minister of the 



Philip's short method. 29 

Presbyterian Church, whose congregation, 
at the time we speak of, was blessed with a 
revival, — a real revival, as the sequel will 
show, and not an artificial excitement. During 
this time an aged Scotch minister of the same 
church, in passing through that section of 
country, threw himself upon the hospitality 
of this minister. Of course he was cordially 
welcomed. After tea, the aged guest was 
informed that there would be a meeting that 
evening for conversation and prayer at the 
church ; that there was an interesting revival 
of religion in the congregation; and he was 
invited to attend. But the word revival 
operated upon his mind as the name of Naza- 
reth had done upon the mind of Nathanael. 
"]S"ae," said he : "I'll hae naething to do wi' 
your revivals." "Come and see," said the 
other; "and if you observe anything irregu- 
lar or unscriptural I shall be glad if you will 
point it out." He did go. For some time 
the meeting was conducted in the ordinary 
manner, but with unusual solemnity. At 
length the minister informed his venerable 
friend that he wished to have some private 
conversation with some persons in the con- 
gregation, and at the same time desired him 
to pass through the house and converse with 
3* 



80 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

such persons as he saw proper. He readily 
consented, and entered into the work with 
all his heart. After some time spent in this 
way, the two ministers met at the lower end 
of the room. Tears were coursing down the 
old man's cheeks. Grasping his friend by 
the hand, he exclaimed, "My dear brother, 
this is nae revival, this is nae revival, but a 
glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit!" 

The anecdote pleased me at the time ; and, 
as it comes in point, I have thrown it into a 
written form for the first time. Let us, then, 
lay aside our jealousies, meet every one in 
candour and fairness, and judge for ourselves. 
And, when we encounter prejudice on the 
part of our Christian brethren, let us avoid 
controversy, — which nine times in ten only 
makes the matter worse, — and, in a spirit of 
meekness and love, adopt Philip's short method. 



SATAN TEMPTING CHRIST. 31 



Mm tagting <%ist 

The nature of spirits is to us involved in 
mystery; but this is not surprising, seeing 
that many of the physical phenomena with 
which we are surrounded are equally inscru- 
table. If we cannot perceive how or why a 
blade of grass grows, we need not be sur- 
prised that we cannot comprehend the nature 
of the spiritual world. Our senses reveal to 
us the fact of the existence of animal and 
vegetable life, their origin, progress, and 
decay. The revelation which God has been 
pleased to make to us in his word informs 
us of the existence of beings of whose sub- 
stance our grosser senses cannot take cogni- 
zance, any more than the sense of feeling or 
of hearing could inform us of the presence or 
absence of light. Our innate consciousness, 
however, bears witness to the truth of divine 
revelation touching the immortal spirit which 
dwells in us, and by means of which we are 



32 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

made capable of knowing and worshipping 
God, who is a spirit. 

It is reasonable to infer from the extent 
of the physical creation that the number and 
variety of spiritual beings are beyond all con- 
ception. That some of them are holy, happy, 
and benevolent, and others unholy, unhappy, 
and malignant, are facts clearly revealed in 
Scripture. That many of the former are 
ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation 
we are expressly told; and we are with equal 
clearness informed that the latter are equally 
assiduous in their endeavours to work the 
ruin of the human race. Why a God of infi- 
nite wisdom, power, and holiness should suffer 
such a commingling of good and evil in his 
creation, is what we cannot know now, 
although doubtless we shall know hereafter. 

In some way, inscrutable to us, these 
spirits, both good and evil, are able to com- 
municate with our spirits, — to influence them 
by suggestions and impressions. They do 
not exert a controlling influence; but their 
suggestions and impressions, doubtless, have 
a most important bearing upon our moral 
conduct and character. Bunyan, in his " Pil- 
grim's Progress," leads Christian near to the 
mouth of hell. In this place he says, "One 



SATAN TEMPTING CHRIST. 33 

ttiing I would not let slip. I took notice that 
now poor Christian was so confounded that 
he did not know his own voice; and thus I 
perceived it : when he was come over against 
the mouth of the burning pit, one of the 
wicked ones got behind him, and stepped up 
softly to him, and whisperingly suggested 
many grievous blasphemies to him, which he 
verily thought had proceeded from his own 
mind. This put Christian more to it than 
any thing he had met with before, even to 
think that he should now blaspheme Him 
that he loved so much before; yet if he could 
have helped it, he would not have done it : 
but he had not the discretion either to stop 
his ears, or to know from whence these blas- 
phemies came." Bun3 7 an himself, before he 
became firmly established in the divine life, 
was sorely exercised in this way; and there 
are probably few Christians of strong and 
active mind who have not had more or less 
experience of this kind. Christian finally rid 
himself of the fiend by the believing appli- 
cation of a suitable text of Scripture. 

Paul, speaking of our great High-Priest, 
says he "was in all points tempted like as we 
are, yet without sin." Satan was allowed to 
suggest to his mind, as he does to ours, evil 



34 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

thoughts and desires; but with him they 
were not for a moment entertained. Sin lies 
in entertaining and acting upon the evil 
suggestion, not in merely receiving it. Bun- 
yan's Pilgrim was greatly distressed at the 
blasphemous thoughts which the wicked one 
injected into his mind, because he thought 
they originated there; but so long as such 
thoughts are distressing they are not sinful. 
So long as we can say, "I hate vain 
thoughts,'' we may safely cherish the com- 
fortable assurance that grace still rules in 
our hearts, and will yet make us " conquerors 
and more than conquerors through Him that 
loved us." 

Jesus, after having lived in humble private 
life for thirty years, is just about to enter 
upon his public work, — to manifest himself 
to Israel as the Son of God with power. 
How shall he begin ? Who is ready to ac- 
knowledge, in the humble carpenter of Naza- 
reth, such high pretensions? What shall he 
do to make a favourable impression ? These 
thoughts would naturally crowd into his 
mind ; and, however little we may think of 
it, this was unquestionably a sore trial. His 
first step is to repair to John, and from his 
hand to receive the rite of baptism, and from 



SATAN TEMPTING CHRIST. 35 

his Father that great acknowledgment, — 
" Thou art my beloved Son : in thee I am 
well pleased." From Jordan, the place of 
baptism, we are told, he " was led by the 
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of 
the devil." There he remained forty days in 
solitude, in sore conflict, without food, and 
probably with little rest. Finally he experi- 
enced the pangs of hunger; but there was 
nothing in that desert place to relieve him. 
Here Satan threw into his mind a very 
plausible suggestion : — " If thou be the Son 
of God, command this stone that it be made 
bread." That Satan appeared to the Saviour 
and spoke these words audibly, is an idea 
that I cannot for a moment entertain. It 
was, I think, a strong diabolical suggestion, 
— a distinct thought clothed in language. 
Satan would, of course, try to give the 
Saviour the impression that the thought was 
his own, as we have seen w T as the case with 
Bunyan's Pilgrim. Jesus, doubtless, knew 
whence it came, and he instantly dismissed 
that thought by bringing another to bear 
against it, expressed in these words: — "It 
is written, That man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word of God." (Luke iv, 
4.) The power of working miracles was i 



36 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

talent possessed by Christ ; but as he was 
made under the law, and subjected to the 
ordinary operations of God's providence, he 
was not at liberty to use that talent to free 
himself from the painful operation of the laws 
of his nature, or to relieve himself from the 
afflictive dispensations of that providence. 
It is remarkable that neither he nor any of 
the apostles ever wrought a miracle for the 
relief of their own personal wants. When 
he lacked food, he hungered as other men; 
when he travelled or laboured, he endured 
fatigue. Even when, by miraculous power, 
he walked upon the water, we may con- 
fidently believe that the physical toil attend- 
ing it was as great as if he had walked the 
same distance upon ice or land. To have 
converted the stone into bread would, there- 
fore, have been an act betraying impatience 
and distrust. And had he done so, then it 
could not have been said of him that he was 
made like unto his brethren; for they have ever 
been subject to like privations, with no other 
reliance save the word of God. As regarded 
his personal wants, Jesus exercised faith in 
God, just as his saints do; and in this case 
we see how well placed his confidence was; 
for we are told that, at the close of his temp- 



SATAN TEMPTING CHRIST. Si 

tation, " angels came and ministered unto 
him/' How sweet a feast would that bo 
which these his glorious servants would bring 
him! 

As a man, the Saviour had all the faculties 
and passions of a man, — ambition among the 
rest. Satan's next attempt was upon this 
passion ; and to this end he was enabled to 
present to the mind of Jesus a vivid impres- 
sion of the extent and grandeur of the king- 
doms of this world. " If thou therefore wilt 
worship me, all shall be thine." This is a 
very remarkable passage. To suppose that 
Satan would make to the Son of God so gross 
a proposition as to worship him in his own 
proper demoniac character is impossible; but 
the worship proposed was, in my humble 
view, a pursuit of objects of worldly ambition. 
Being conscious of the possession of almighty 
power, and of the ability to subdue the nations 
of the world and bring them under his sway 
as the King of kings, the temptation was 
truly a great one. But in this Satan was 
sternly repulsed. It is worthy of observation, 
however, that the proposal here made to the 
Master was, long afterwards, renewed, and 
was accepted in all its length and breadth by 
men who bore his name and professed to act 
4 



38 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

in his behalf. All these things long were, 
and are yet, to a great extent, in the pos- 
session of the Church of Eome ; and how she 
became possessed of them we may learn from 
the passage before us. Satan is sometimes 
called the Prince of this world, and as such is 
worshipped under the disguise of ambition, 
glory, conquest, and perhaps latterly under 
the specious pretence of "the extension of the 
area of freedom." It was a bold and daring 
thing in Satan thus to attempt to bring the 
Prince of Peace himself into subjection, as 
he had done many other princes whom the 
world calls great. It is most likely, how- 
ever, that, under the humble guise of hu- 
manity, Satan did not fully know Christ. 
The great mystery of God manifest in the 
flesh was perhaps too deep for him; nor is it 
probable that he was aware of the nature of 
the Saviour's mission. This, we think, is 
evident from the active agency he had in 
bringing him to death, the very thing that 
ruined the kingdom of darkness. Christ, 
however, had already a better title to the 
kingdoms of the world than any that Satan 
could bestow; for God himself had said to 
him, "I will give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 



SATAN TEMPTING CHRIST. 39 

earth for thy possession;" and in due time 
he will cast out Satan, the usurper, and Anti- 
christ, who holds under him. 

The third and last temptation which the 
devil tried upon the Saviour appealed to a 
very different principle. Finding that he 
could make no impression upon his ambition, 
he appealed to his love of admiration, which 
is one form of vanity. He set him, in ima- 
gination, upon the pinnacle of the temple in 
Jerusalem, and then tempted him to cast 
himself down in the sight of admiring thou- 
sands, trusting to the hands of angels to bear 
him up and thus waft him gently and tri- 
umphantly to the ground. There was much 
plausibility in this ; for it would have been a 
most striking advent, and would have afforded 
a fine opportunity for announcing himself as 
the long-expected Messiah. As Jesus had 
met his former assaults by quotations from 
the Scriptures, the adversary in this case 
quoted Scripture too. In the 91st Psalm it 
is written, "He shall give his angels charge 
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They 
shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou 
dash thy foot against a stone." Satan quoted 
this text, but garbled it by omitting the very 
important clause, " in all thy ways." But the 



4U THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Saviour foiled Liin again by saying, "It is 
written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy 
God." Here we are taught that out of the 
path of duty we have no warrant to claim or 
expect the protecting care of God or the 
guardianship of angels. 

In contending with the great adversary 
of souls, the Saviour used no weapons which 
may not be as easily and as readily wielded 
by the humblest of his followers. "It is 
written" is his uniform reply; and if we would 
arm ourselves against his wiles, we must take, 
as he did, "the sword of the Spirit, which is 
the word of God." Here is a high and glo- 
rious example, to follow which is equally safe 
and easy. He who spake as man never spake 
could, with perfect ease, have foiled Satan 
with original language; but it pleased him to 
quote from what was already written ; and, 
by doing so, he not only left us an example 
which we can follow in our hours of darkness 
and temptation, — and who has them not ? — 
but he put honour upon the Scriptures. 



THE AFFAIR OF THE TRIBUTE-MONEY. 41 



There never, probably, was exhibited more 
consummate craft than was involved in the 
question propounded to Christ by the Phari- 
sees and Herodians, as to whether it was 
lawful to pay tribute to Csesar or not. Judea 
at that time was a conquered province of the 
Eoman Empire, and the Jews were obliged 
to acknowledge the authority of the Emperor 
and to pay tribute to him, however reluctant 
they were to do either one or the other. 
While among the Jews nothing could be more 
unpopular than to profess friendship and 
fidelity to Caesar, on the other hand, filled 
as Judea was with the civil and military 
officers of Eome, nothing could be more dan- 
gerous than to deny the lawful authority of 
him whose conquering arms had made him 
the supreme ruler not only of Judea, but of 
almost the then known world. 

Eager to entrap the Saviour and to get him 
into difficulty with the Eoman authorities, or 

4* 



42 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

to render him odious to the Jews, — they cared 
not which, — they resolved to put a question 
to him which he could not well refuse to 
answer, and which, as they supposed, answer 
it as he might, could not fail to involve him in 
difficulty. And in order the more certainly 
to insure a reply of some kind, a committee 
was appointed to wait upon him, who ap- 
proached him with expressions of the most 
profound respect and abject flattery. "Mas- 
ter," said they, "we know that thou art true, 
and teachest the way of God in truth, neither 
care st thou for any man ; for thou regardest 
not the person of men: tell us, therefore, 
what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give 
tribute unto Caesar, or not?" Here was a 
dilemma too great for human wisdom to 
escape, — a net so artfully woven that any but 
Jesus must have been caught in some of its 
.meshes. In bland and honeyed accents the 
problem, with its flattering introduction, was 
pronounced ; and, the leader having delivered 
himself, the artful deputation awaited with 
malicious exultation the confusion into which 
they were sure of throwing Him whom they 
hated. But how were they astonished to see 
a dark cloud of indignant scorn gather upon 
that calm, mild, benign countenance, and 



THE AFFAIR OF THE TRIBUTE-MONEY. 43 

hear him thunder forth the terrible reply, 
"Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ?" Now 
they would gladly escape, but he has caught 
them, and holds them fast in his grasp. "Show 
me the tribute-money/' is his instant and 
stern command. They cannot refuse : so they 
produce a penny, (a small silver coin, bearing 
Caesar's image and superscription.) "Whose 
is this image and superscription ?" he de- 
mands of his now abashed interrogators. 
The question cannot be evaded, though they 
now feel that the little coin which they had 
put into his hand, and which he is holding up 
before their eyes, is at once the badge and 
symbol of their national degradation; and 
they feel with intense keenness how ridiculous 
it is in them to be asking such questions. 
They are now sufficiently punished : so he 
dismisses them by uttering one of the most 
profound and important precepts that ever 
fell upon mortal ears : — " Render, therefore, 
unto Ccesar the things that are Ccesafs, and 
unto God the things that are God's." 

I desire to offer a few reflections upon this 
divine and comprehensive precept. 

Nothing is more common than for rulers 
to invade the rights of God ; for God has re- 
served to himself great and important rights. 



44 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

While it is true that "the powers that be are 
ordained of God/' and that we are bound by 
a divine command to yield obedience to the 
ordinances of men, yet all these, in order to 
challenge our obedience, must be subordinate 
to that Higher Law which God has laid down 
in his word. The apostles and early Chris- 
tians were obedient to all the laws and ordi- 
nances of the Eoman Empire, so far as they 
did not conflict with the rights and laws of 
God j but, where they did so, they deliberately 
disobeyed them. Had they yielded an undis- 
criminating obedience to the laws of the 
Empire, had they rendered to Caesar all that 
he claimed, Christianity must have ceased to 
exist; for to confess Christ was for a long 
time a highly-penal offence. But these men 
gave unto Csesar the things that were Csesar's; 
but they suffered death in its most terrific 
form rather than yield to Csesar the things 
that were God's. 

When Darius the Mede issued a decree 
that no man should ask a petition of any god 
or man except himself, for a space of thirty 
days, he usurped one of the rights of God. 
Daniel at that time was high in office under 
Darius, and if any man was under obligation 
to render obedience to the decree he was the 



THE AFFAIR OF THE TRIBUTE-MONEY. 45 

man. But while he was ever faithful to his 
prince, and in all things rendered unto Caesar 
the things that were Caesar's, he firmly and 
openly refused to render unto Caesar the 
things that were God's. Daniel might have 
prayed in secret, as doubtless he did ; but his 
custom had been to pray with open window, 
with his face towards Jerusalem ; and to have 
discontinued this custom during these thirty 
days would have been an acknowledgment 
that the laws of Darius were higher than the 
laws of God, and the rights of Darius more 
sacred than the rights of God. This Daniel 
would by no means do, but preferred rather 
to incur the penalty of being cast into a den 
of lions. "He that honoureth me I will 
honour," says God; and we see the truth of 
his promise wonderfully exemplified in the 
case of Daniel. "Fear not them which kill 
the body," says the Saviour, — an injunction 
which presupposes that it is sometimes neces- 
sary to resist the authority of the powers 
that be. Daniel found it necessary; so did 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and so 
did the apostles and early Christians, and 
even Christ himself. 

In the comprehensive scope of the precept 
before us, the word Caesar is put for any civil 



46 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

government : so it comes home to us as much 
as it did to the Jews, and is as much the rule 
for the government of free American citizens 
as of Jewish tributaries. Our circumstances 
are, however, materially different. Our 
Csesar is in a measure under our own con- 
trol; theirs was not; but the rule is of 
equally easy application to both. We, how- 
ever, have one responsibility which did not 
rest upon the conquered Israelites, and that 
is the exercise of a perpetual vigilance to 
prevent any conflict between the laws of the 
country and the laws of God. This is the 
great duty of the citizen in his sovereign 
capacity, as an integral part of the very 
government itself; but if, unhappily, any laws 
shall be enacted contrary to his conscientious 
views in the sight of his Supreme Sovereign, 
and which he cannot obey without sin, his 
only course is to obey God rather than man, 
as the ancient worthies of whom we have been 
speaking did, and take the consequences. 
Daniel's disobedience and God's interposition 
for his deliverance put an end to the impious 
decree of Darius, — restored God to his rights 
and man to his liberty; and, if we wish well 
to our government and nation, we will do 
well always, and in all our duties as citizens, 



THE AFFAIR OF THE TRIBUTE-MONEY. 47 

to cling to the supremacy of God and his 
laws. 

But who is to be the judge whether a 
certain law conflicts or agrees with the divine 
law? Here is one of the highest prerogatives 
of conscience. Daniel exercised it ; the three 
young men on the plain of Dura exercised 
it; Peter exercised it before the Sanhedrim; 
and all the martyrs exercised it. Gamaliel 
exercised it in a sovereign capacity in the 
Jewish Council, when he opposed the mea- 
sures about to be adopted against the Chris- 
tians. (Acts v. 34-40.) The word of God is 
the only tribunal to which we can bring such 
questions, and we must hear that word for 
ourselves : another cannot hear it for us; and, 
having heard it, our own conscience, as in the 
sight of God, must decide. 

"If any man sue thee at the law," says 
Jesus, "and take away thy coat, let him 
have thy cloak also;" thus showing his esti- 
mate of the rights of property, as not worth 
contending about. So, of course, we are to 
violate no law because we honestly think it 
infringes the rights of property. This is one 
of our personal rights ; and our mere personal 
rights, involving only material interests, are 
the lowest. The three orders of rights are 



48 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

the rights of persons, the rights of govern- 
ment, and the rights of God. Conscience is 
the divinely-constituted arbiter amongst all 
these rights. It says, That is my coat, my 
right to it is unquestionable; but, under 
certain circumstances, it says, Let it go; do 
not contend about it. A personal right may 
sometimes be relinquished without sin. Csesar 
says, Pay me so much tribute. Conscience 
sits upon the case and decides, — Caesar has a 
right to it, in virtue of his supreme authority : 
let him have it. Next God speaks and claims 
ready and entire obedience to all his com- 
mandments, let who will forbid; and here 
conscience bends humbly before its only Lord, 
and, without gainsaying, urges obedience. 
We see, then, that the conscience of the 
humblest individual can of right have no 
sovereign but God himself, and that its rights 
are among the rights of God; for whoever 
undertakes to rule the conscience of another 
is guilty of usurping one of the reserved pre- 
rogatives of Jehovah. 

All consciences may not be equally en- 
lightened, and may err in the interpretation 
of God's laws, or may misapprehend his 
revealed will; but, be his honest impressions 
what they may, the man is bound to observe 



THE AFFAIR OF THE TRIBUTE-MONEY. 49 

its teachings. (See Eonians xiv.) To those 
who do so out of regard to the glory of God, 
and with a sincere desire to obey him, he has 
promised more light; for he has said, "To 
the upright light shall arise in the darkness/' 
We ought to be very tender, therefore, of the 
conscientious scruples of our brethren; for 
we may be sure that he who is really desirous 
of obeying God will not be suffered to go very 
far astray. 

But let us beware of doing any thing 
merely because the law of the land enjoins 
it or allows it, or of regarding things as right 
because they may in this sense be lawful. 
Let us not forget that God has claims upon 
us as citizens, as sovereign people, quite as 
sacred as those which he has upon us as 
Christians. It is a fearful truth, that, as a 
nation, we are prone to forget God ; and this 
is seen in the fact that when we come to 
exercise the highest act of sovereignty — the 
choice of our rulers — we forget the claims of 
God. Let us render unto Caesar the things 
that are Caesar's ; but, while we do so, let the 
latter clause of the precept be ever in view: 
else we shall be in great danger of giving 
to Caesar the things that are God's, and of 
regarding the authority of Caesar as supreme. 

5 



50 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Cling, then, to the Higher Law, and only 
render an entire obedience to the laws of man 
after they have been brought by an honest 
conscience to the bar of that law. Some 
will tell us that this is a dangerous rule, 
subversive of all government; but let such 
ponder the terrible examples with which 
history abounds of the ruin of nations who 
gave to Caesar the things that were God's; 
and then let them point, if they can, to the 
example of any nation that sustained damage 
from a too scrupulous regard to -the laws of 
God. His service is perfect freedom; and 
there can be no true freedom except in 
obedience to him. "Where the law of the 
Lord is, there is liberty." 



€\mt ni % Wmm af Samaria. 

The patriarch Jacob, in his wanderings 
with his numerous family and extensive 
flocks, dwelt for a time at a place called 
Shechem, where he purchased a field of 
Hamar, and digged a well, which was for 



CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 51 

ages celebrated for the abundance and excel- 
lence of its water. This well was known in 
the days of our Saviour, and is even yet 
known, as " Jacob's well/' Its original 
object was to water the flocks of the pro- 
prietor; but long afterwards a city was built 
near it, the inhabitants of which drew their 
principal supply of water from it. This 
famous well was situated in that portion of 
the land of Palestine which, in New Testa- 
ment times, was called Samaria, and that 
which in Genesis is called Shechem had been 
changed to Sychar. Shechem was the place 
where Jacob sent his son Joseph to seek his 
brethren and inquire after their welfare; but 
when he arrived at the place he found that 
they had removed to Dothan. He then 
followed them and found them there, and 
there they sold him to merchants who were 
going down to Egypt. Jacob, at his death, 
bequeathed a piece of ground to Joseph; and 
the Evangelist John tells us that this was 
the same property; and it remained in his 
family until the carrying away of the Ten 
Tribes. 

On one of his journeys from Judea to 
Galilee, Jesus was pleased to pass through 
Samaria b}^ way of Sychar. He travelled on 



52 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

foot, in company with his disciples. It was 
about noon when they reached the well. 
Wearied with his journey, the Master sat 
down by the well, while the disciples went 
into the city to buy food enough to furnish 
them with a frugal repast, which they de- 
signed to take at the well ; for such was the 
prejudice existing between the Jews and 
Samaritans that no act of hospitality was to 
be expected there. This prejudice did not 
prevent the Jews and Samaritans from 
making purchases of one another when the 
necessities of the case required it; but the 
Jews deemed it an abomination to ask even 
a cup of water of a Samaritan. The language 
of their conduct towards these neighbours 
was, " Stand back : I am holier than thou." 
It is true that the Samaritans had a corrupt 
religion, — a mingling of Hebrew and heathen 
rites, — for they were themselves a mingled 
people ; but, from all we can gather of their 
character from the Xew Testament, they 
were a simple-minded people, more willing 
to receive the truth and embrace the Saviour 
than were the proud, bigoted Jews. The 
blame of this non-intercourse, I think, lay at 
the door of the latter. 

While Jesus was sitting there, alone, weary, 



CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OP SAMARIA. 53 

hungry, thirsty, and but ill sheltered from 
the rays of the meridian sun, a woman came 
out of the city to draw water. She could 
not avoid seeing this Jewish stranger; and 
the consciousness that she was in the pre- 
sence of one who despised her would cause 
her to hasten her operations that she might 
escape from his presence. That animosity 
which is inseparable from such a feeling 
would boil up intensely, and render her, as 
some might imagine, insensible to any good 
impression. But it was not so in the case 
before us ; nor is it a general truth that such 
a state of mind as we have supposed this 
woman to have been in is unfavourable to 
the reception of good impressions. It is 
true in the moral world, as it is in the phy- 
sical, that the moment when any thing is 
strained to its utmost tension is the very 
time to break it and destroy its power of 
further resistance. Jesus, who perfectly knew 
all hearts, touched the right spring when he 
said, " Give me to drink." The woman was 
both surprised and pleased that a Jew should 
ask a favour of her. Her heart warmed to- 
wards him, because she saw that he at least 
did not despise her nor disdain to ask a 
favour of her, and now she felt that there 

5* 



54 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

was one Jew that she did not hate. Still, her 
womanly curiosity was excited, and she 
asked him how it was that he, being a Jew, 
should ask drink of her, who was a woman 
of Samaria. There was nothing in the ques- 
tion that indicated anything like displeasure; 
but the thing was so unusual, so unexpected, 
that she wished to know how it was that he 
differed so far from the rest of his country- 
men. The Saviour did not choose to go into 
a direct explanation, but intimated to her 
that He who had just asked a favour of her 
was able to confer upon her favours infinitely 
more valuable. 

I have said that the Saviour touched the 
right spring in this woman's heart. He asked 
a favour, — a small one, to be sure, but still a 
favour. Had he first offered a favour, doubt- 
less it would have been rejected with scorn; 
but in asking one he disarmed her prejudice 
and put an end to her hostility. How strange 
a thing is the human heart ! and how im- 
portant it is to understand its workings ! 

In answer to her inquiry, why he had 
asked her for drink, Jesus said, " If thou 
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that 
saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst 
have asked of him and he would have given 



CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 55 

thee living water." The woman did not 
understand the imagery of the Saviour, but 
replied by asking another question, in which 
ignorance and shrewdness are curiously 
blended. ", Sir, thou hast nothing to draw 
with, and the well is deep : from whence then 
hast thou that living water 2" In Palestine 
what was called " living water" was the 
water of springs, whether issuing from the 
surface of the earth or in the bottom of 
such a well as the one at Sychar, as contra- 
distinguished from the water of pools or 
cisterns. Understanding him literally, the 
woman seemed surprised that he should talk 
of having " living water" at his disposal. 
"Thou hast nothing to draw with," said she, 
"and the well is deep." These words, al- 
though misapplied when first uttered, are 
words of awful truth when applied to the 
presumptuous sinner who imagines that he 
can draw water out of the wells of salvation 
when he pleases. Let him remember that he- 
has nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. 
True, the gracious proclamation is, "Ho! 
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters;" and "Let him that is athirst come;" 
but let him not come in his own righteous- 
ness or strength; for the well is deep, and 



56 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

he has nothing to draw with. None hut 
Jesus can draw that water; and to whom- 
soever wills he will give it, and give it freely. 
He desired to give it to this woman; and 
when at last he succeeded in convincing her 
that he was the long-expected Messiah, we 
have every reason to believe that she did 
joyfully receive this unspeakable gift. 

"Give me to drink/' was the prayer of the 
suffering Saviour to the Samaritan woman ; 
for, sure enough, the well was deep, and he 
had nothing to draw with. How inexpres- 
sibly affecting is it to behold the glorious 
Author of eternal life thus personifying, in a 
figure, the perishing sinner, to whom he only 
can give the water of life ! " Give me to 
drink/' said he; and what he said to that 
woman he desires us to say to him. And 
how must it grieve his Holy Spirit to see us 
forsaking him, the fountain of living waters, 
and hewing out to ourselves cisterns — broken 
cisterns — that can hold no water ! 

The woman seemed to be incapable of 
understanding the Saviour's metaphorical 
language, but persisted in a literal interpre- 
tation of it : so he abruptly changed the 
subject by requesting her to go and call her 
husband and come back to him. She replied 



CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 57 

that she had no husband; and Jesus con- 
firmed her words by telling her that, although 
she had had five husbands, she was then liv- 
ing in adultery; for, said he, "he whom thou 
now hast is not thy husband." Unabashed, 
the woman coolly remarked, " Sir, I perceive 
that thou art a prophet," and then attempted 
to draw him into an argument as to whether 
that mountain or Jerusalem was the proper 
place to worship. Then it was that he gave 
utterance to some of the sublimest truths 
that ever saluted human ears. With God- 
like authority, he pronounced the old cere- 
monial law of the Jews abrogated, and an- 
nounced the advent of the gospel, when it 
should no longer be required of men to go to 
that mountain nor yet to Jerusalem to wor- 
ship the Father. God was about to manifest 
himself to his people in a clearer and simpler 
aspect than ever he had done since Adam 
was expelled from Eden. " God is a spirit ; 
and they that worship him must worship him 
in spirit and in truth." 

What an address was this to such an 
audience ! One Samaritan woman only heard 
it fall from the lips of its author; but the pen 
of inspiration caught up his words, and they 
have gone to the ends of the world, and 



58 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

millions of hearts have been thrilled, en- 
lightened, and warmed by them. When men 
are about to utter some great truth, they 
seek out some great occasion, and a large and 
intelligent audience capable of appreciating 
what they say. But how differently did 
Jesus act ! But in this he exhibited himself 
as God and not man. To him nothing was 
great, nothing small. As the God of Pro- 
vidence, his words were safe; for he had 
power to preserve them forever, and to send 
them to all the world. 

The woman believed, and eagerly and 
gladly she called upon her neighbours to 
come out and see the Messiah. And many 
of them believed also, and he abode amongst 
them two days, and then resumed his journey 
to Galilee, on his mission of love and mercy. 

"Dispensing good where'er he came, 
The labour of his life was love." 



THE BLIND MAN RECEIVING SIGHT. 59 



%\t §Irai> Ian im&ing Si#. 

It is a sad thing to be blind. One who 
had enjoyed the blessing of sight until his 
mind had become richly stored with learning, 
and his fine genius had been fully developed, 
thus, in eloquent pathos, laments its loss : — 

" Thus with the year 
Seasons return ; but not to me returns 
Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn, 
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, 
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine ; 
But cloud instead, and ever-during dark, 
Surround me, from the cheerful ways of men 
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair 
Presented with a universal blank 
Of Nature's works, to me expunged and razed, 
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out." — Milton. 

If to be deprived of sight, after having 
drawn in wisdom and knowledge through 
this greatest "entrance" to the soul, — after 
the mind has been filled with the vivid images 
of beauty and truth which only the eye can 
reveal, — images which can afterwards be 



60 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

brought forth in endless combinations by 
the power of memory, — be so afflictive, what 
must it be to be born blind, and thus be 
totally incapable of even the idea of light, 
of colour, and of the infinite field of beauty 
and grandeur which this most perfect and 
spiritual of our senses reveals to us ! To 
know that others are blessed with a sublime 
and delightful power, of the nature of which 
we cannot form even the vaguest conception, 
must be an affliction of the sorest kind. We do 
not — indeed, we cannot — sufficiently admire 
the wisdom and goodness of our Creator in 
giving to us this wonderful power, and not 
to us only, but to nearly all his sentient 
creatures. 

In the ninth chapter of the Gospel by John 
w r e have a most interesting narrative of a 
man who was born blind receiving the gift 
of sight from the Saviour. He was not only 
blind, but poor ; for we are incidentally told 
that he sat by the wayside begging. Jesus, 
as he passed by, saw him. We are not told 
that the blind man said any thing to him, or 
solicited alms of him, much less asked him to 
give him sight. Very likely the poor man 
had never heard of Jesus: nay, we are al- 
most sure of it, for, when subsequently ques- 



THE BLIND MAN RECEIVING SIGHT. 61 

tioned by his neighbours about the manner 
of his obtaining sight, he said, " A man that 
is called Jesus made clay/' &c., plainly in- 
timating that all he knew of his benefactor 
was that he was called Jesus. 

The disciples, who were in company, in- 
quired of the Saviour who had sinned, this 
man or his parents, that he was born blind. 
This was a common Jewish superstition, 
which attributed every unusual casualty or 
affliction to some heinous sin committed 
either by the subject of it or by his immediate 
progenitors. Jesus corrected their mistake 
by replying, " Neither hath this man sinned, 
nor his parents; but that the works of God 
should be made manifest in him." "We must 
not, of course, understand him as asserting 
that this man and his parents were sinless, 
but that neither he nor they had sinned in 
the manner supposed. Possibly a trace 
of the wide-spread heathen superstition of 
the transmigration of souls had found a lodg- 
ment in the minds of the disciples; and the 
notion that this blindness was on account of 
this man's own sins could only refer to sins 
committed in a former body. 

This conversation being over, the compas- 
sionate Saviour approached the blind man, 



62 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

carrying in his hand a little of the dust of 
the road, moistened with his own spittle, and 
with this he anointed the eyes of the blind 
man. Was there any thing in the dust and 
the spittle that could give sight to those ray- 
less orbs? Certainly not. Could not Jesus 
have restored him to sight, as he did Barti- 
meus, with a word ? Doubtless he could. 
Then why make clay, which of itself was 
worthless ? Did he do so merely to manifest 
his sovereignty or to vary the mode of his 
operations? We must not think so. Un- 
questionably the clay was necessary, or it 
would not have been used. But Jesus is not 
enigmatical either in his words or his works; 
and a little reflection will teach us why he 
put clay on this man's eyes and not on those 
of Bartimeus. 

Bartimeus knew Jesus, and fully believed 
in his power to heal him ; but this poor man, 
whose mind was as dark as his eyes, knew 
him not, and of course did not and could not 
believe in him. The faith of the former 
existed and was in full action, and he had 
done his part when he cried for mercy and 
afterwards cast aside his garment and ran to 
his great Deliverer; but in the wretched 
object before us faith was not yet even 



THE BLIND MAN RECEIVING SIGHT. C3 

implanted. It required something tangible — 
something that he could feel — to excite hope 
or action ; and the clay was well calculated 
to do this. 

It was a strange action on the part of a 
stranger; and when accompanied by the 
command, uttered in a tone of kindness, " Go, 
wash/' strong expectation, however vague 
and indefinite, would thrill his soul and lead 
him to instant obedience. This hope, this 
vague expectation of some benefit, was the 
beginning of faith, and his going and washing 
were its first-fruits, his first acts of obedience. 
Moreover, there was a fitness between the 
situation in which the Saviour had placed 
him and the command he gave him ; for the 
clay, had he not obeyed, would have been as 
uncomfortable as it would have been un- 
seemly. 

" Go, wash in the pool of Siloam," said the 
great Physician. This pool was not far dis- 
tant, so the command was reasonable; but no 
other water would have answered, because 
to wash anywhere else would have involved 
an act of disobedience. The blind man ap- 
pears to have made no objection to the pool, 
but went immediately, washed, "and came 
seeing." In this he behaved very differently 



64 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

from the proud Assyrian leper, who would 
greatly have preferred to wash in Abana or 
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, rather than in 
the despised Jordan. We cannot imagine 
the wonder and delight that would fill the 
soul of this poor man when, upon raising 
his head from the water, the glories of crea- 
tion burst upon him in all their amplitude 
and splendour. 

In the mean time Jesus went away, and the 
man saw nothing more of him for some time; 
but we may be sure that he did not for a 
moment lose sight of his glad and grateful 
servant. As was natural enough, the affair 
made a great excitement among the man's 
neighbours. The case was truly a wonderful 
one. Xot content with wondering at and 
talking of the strange event themselves, they 
brought him to the Pharisees. At first these 
last would be astounded at this new evidence 
of the Divine mission of Him whom they 
hated and were determined at all hazards to 
oppose; but presently they discovered that 
"it was on the Sabbath day when Jesus made the 
clay and opened his eyes." This terrible dese- 
cration of the Sabbath was enough for them. 
They were blind to the great and obvious fact 
that God himself had miraculously blessed 



THE BLIND MAN RECEIVING SIGHT. 65 

the simple means which Jesus had made use 
of, and thus signally manifested his approba- 
tion. It is truly wonderful how slight a 
reason will suffice those who are at heart 
opposed to the truth, and how blind they 
are to evidences the most palpable and con- 
vincing. We meet with much of this spirit 
in the infidel world of the present day. 

In foretelling to his disciples the persecu- 
tions they should meet with, — that they 
should be brought before kings and rulers for 
his name's sake, — the Saviour uttered this re- 
markable language : — " Settle it, therefore, in 
your hearts not to meditate before what ye 
shall answer; for I will give you a mouth 
and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall 
not be able to gainsay nor resist." In the 
examination of this poor simple man before 
these haughty rulers we see a fulfilment of 
this great promise. In an artless but irre- 
sistible argument he confounds them, and 
then boldly asks them to become the dis- 
ciples of Jesus. All the reply they had was 
in these words of scorn and pride : — " Thou 
wast altogether born in sins ; and dost thou 
teach us?" plainly showing that they too 
laboured under the same superstitious notion 
that the Saviour had corrected in his dis- 
6* 



66 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

ciples; and, having uttered this cruel taunt, 
they cast him out of the synagogue. This 
was a heavy penalt} T , attended not only with 
the loss of religious privileges, but with many 
civil and social disabilities. Notwithstanding, 
therefore, the blessing of vision that had just 
been conferred upon him, he wandered forth, 
like his glorious Benefactor, a man of sorrows 
and acquainted with grief, despised and re- 
jected, an outcast, accursed and shunned. 
In this forlorn condition Jesus sought him, 
"and when he had found him he said, Dost 
thou believe on the Son of Go&V Ah! here is 
more light, — better than that which the clay 
and the spittle let in. That showed him this 
world, and a sad revelation it had been^to 
him; but now, having been chastened and 
tried, he is about to be translated into the 
glorious light and liberty of the children of 
God. The inquiry came home with power 
to his heart, and he eagerly asked, " Who is 
he, Lord, that I might believe in him ? And 
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast both seen 
him, and he it is that talketh with thee." 
When the glories of the visible creation 
burst upon his astonished soul at the Pool of 
Siloam, his wonder and joy w^ould be great 
indeed; but the joy that now thrilled his 



THE BLIND MAN RECEIVING SIGHT. 67 

heart at the presence of his God and Saviour 
would as far transcend that as the heavens 
are higher than the earth. With passionate 
devotion he exclaimed, "Lord, I believe/' and 
then worshipped him as no creature may be 
worshipped. Before this he had honoured 
his Benefactor as a prophet; now he adores 
him as his God. 

This is one of those passages of Scripture 
which is in itself a fountain of living water, 
— a perennial spring at which we may drink 
and come again and again. The narrative, 
interesting in itself, is literally bestudded 
with gems of inestimable truth. In it we 
see the goodness and mercy of Jesus; we 
see the wretchedness of fallen man lying in 
hopeless darkness and ignorance; we see the 
rise, progress, triumph, and reward of faith. 
And then, if we turn to the dark side of 
the picture, we see the invincible hostility 
of unbelief to all that is true and lovely and 
of good report. But, better than all, in it 
we read, substantially, a history of our own 
espousals, if indeed we do believe on the Son 
of God. And happy are we if, like the man 
upon whom Jesus bestowed sight, we can say, 
"One thing I know, that, whereas I was 
blind, now I see." 



68 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Spiritually we are all born blind ; but He 
who anointed the eyes of this poor man 
and opened them to natural light, and gave 
him also the light of life, is ready to give us 
light. Let us, then, as we have heard of 
him, run to him as Bartimeus did, and cry 
earnestly, "Thou Son of David, have mercy 
on us !" and not sit in our darkness, as this 
poor man did, with no expectation of any 
thing beyond the beggarly elements of this 
world. 



ta&ssing <%ist. 

In the narrative of the poor woman who 
touched the Saviour's garment in the crowd, 
and was by that means cured of an inveterate 
and distressing malady, we find many topics 
for profitable reflection. We see in it a dis- 
play of the power, goodness, and omniscience 
of Christ. In the woman we see true faith, 
mingled with much weakness and sinful fear. 

The Saviour was walking in the highway, 
going to the house of Jairus to heal his daugh- 
ter, and was dispensing divine instruction to 



CONFESSING CHRIST. 69 

the multitude who crowded around him. 
Among them was a pale, melancholy female, 
agitated with a new hope of recovery from 
an incurable malady. Too timid to make an 
open application to the Great Physician, she 
resolved to take, as it were, by stealth, that 
healing virtue which she so much needed. 
Eagerly, with spasmodic energy, she pressed 
forward, until with her hand she could reach 
his garment. She touched it. Instantly her 
feelings made known the great fact that she 
was restored to health. A trembling hope 
gave place to exulting joy. 

But suddenly Jesus stops, and demands, 
"Who touched my clothes?" His disciples 
think it a strange question, for they imme- 
diately reply, "Thou seest the multitude 
thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched 
me?" But the accidental touch of the multi- 
tude was nothing. Neither he nor they were 
affected by it. There was no inherent virtue 
in his clothes, any more than in other clothes. 
But the woman's touch was an act of faith, 
and as such it met its appropriate reward. 
"Whether any superstition mingled with her 
faith is not for us to inquire. Perhaps there 
did; yet He who "knoweth our frame, who 
remembereth that we are dust," pardoned 



70 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

and accepted the poor suppliant, for such she 
was. 

Why did Jesus ask, "Who touched me?" 
Could he be ignorant of that? Surely not. 
He saw the first rising of this thought in the 
woman's heart. He had observed all her 
movements as no one else could observe them. 
He asked the question because this woman, 
who had secured a great blessing, had not 
confessed him before men, and, for aught we know, 
did not intend to do so. If ever there was a 
case when this might have been permitted, 
we might suppose this was that case. But 
no : this could not be permitted. The Saviour 
was inflexible. His eye ranged over the mul- 
titude until it rested upon the timid, trembling 
object of his search, when she rushed for- 
ward, regardless of the sympathies or the 
sneers of those around her, fell down before 
him, and openly confessed all, acknowledged 
her obligation, and received from the lips of 
her great Benefactor a blessing which would 
cause a purer thrill of joy than the mere 
healing of her malady had given. "Daughter," 
said he, — she has confessed him before men; 
he already confesses her before his Father and 
the holy angels, and calls her by that endear- 
ing term, — "Daughter, thy faith hath made 



CONFESSING CHRIST. 71 

thee whole : go in peace, and be whole of thy 
plague." What majesty and kindness are 
here commingled! The loving kindness of a 
familiar, sympathizing friend is blended with 
the authority and power of Almighty God ! 
When that poor woman discovered that she 
was healed, she was glad, for she was greatly 
benefited ; but she could not have gone away 
in peace. Now, however, she "rejoices with 
joy unspeakable, and full of glory." Her 
joy is no longer a selfish joy. By touching 
the Saviour's garment she received the heal- 
ing virtue which she so much needed; but by 
confessing him before men she received that 
peace " which passeth all understanding." 

Often in after-life would that woman think 
and speak of this most interesting incident; 
and, could we hear her testimony, doubtless 
we should find that her strongest emotions of 
gratitude were excited because her Saviour 
would not permit her to depart without con- 
fessing him. 

This subject teaches how unwise it is to 
expect salvation by a secret faith, a hidden 
devotion. Most of our prayers and commu- 
nion with God are, and ought to be, in secret; 
but if our light be worth any thing it cannot 
be hid. The true believer will bear his hum- 



72 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

ble testimony before the world ; and he can 
never find peace until he does so. He may 
have joy, the joy of pardoned sin; but not 
peace. If his faith be genuine, he will be 
constrained to own his obligations to his 
Saviour in the face of a scofling, unbelieving 
world. 

To unite ourselves with the church of Christ 
is the common form of confessing him before 
the world. Time was when to do so was 
a great cross. Its conditions were shame 
and contempt, often danger and death; but 
it is not so now. To join the church now is 
a reputable act, almost a fashionable one. 
No reproach, no loss, no danger, attaches to 
the act now. But in this very fact there is 
cause for deep searchings of heart. If we 
can confess Christ and yet avoid the reproach 
of Christ, we may apprehend that something 
is wrong. "Is the offence of the cross 
ceased?" Are the terms of discipleship 
easier now than they were in the days of 
Christ and the apostles ? Oh, I fear that while 
many of us have professed to be Christians, 
few have confessed Christ. If we have not 
his spirit, we are none of his; and if we have, 
the world will hate us as it hated him. Our 
religion may be too lifeless, too tame, to 



THE LAST INTERVIEW. 73 

excite the derision, reproach, or opposition 
that the early Christians met with. Why, 
if such people should appear in our day they 
would be stigmatized as enthusiasts and 
fanatics. 

What then? shall we court persecution? 
By no means; but rather bless God that we 
are exempted from it, provided that exemp- 
tion does not arise from our conformity to 
the world; for remember, it is written, "The 
world will love its own" But is there not 
reason to fear that the present apparent 
reconciliation between the church and the 
world arises more from the conformity of the 
church to the world than from that of the 
world to Christ? 



% fast Intetoto. 

The hearts of the disciples were filled with 
sorrow and dismay at the near approach of 
the loss of their beloved Master. He had 
more than once spoken to them in language 
intended to prepare their minds for the sad 
events that awaited them. But that any 
1 



74 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

evil should befall Him, or them while with 
him, was a thought which, in their love for 
him, and their fondly-cherished although 
unfounded hopes of his earthly reign, they 
resisted until the closing scenes of his life 
forced upon them the sad reality. 

In the language of the two disciples on 
the road to Emmaus we catch a glimpse of the 
early and long-cherished impression of the 
disciples: — "We trusted that it had been he 
which should have redeemed Israel." Piety, 
patriotism, and personal ambition united in 
keeping dominant in their minds the idea 
that their Master, whom they firmly believed 
to be the long-promised Messiah, would re- 
establish the throne of his father David, and 
reign forever over the kingdom of Israel, after 
having redeemed it from foreign bondage. 
But now they began to discover that in all 
these bright anticipations they had been mis- 
taken. 

The thoughts of his own dreadful death 
seem to have been ever present to the mind 
of the Saviour. He foresaw all its anguish 
and its horrors, in reference to which he had 
said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, 
and oh, how am I straitened until it be ac- 
complished !" But still he sympathized deeply 



THE LAST INTERVIEW. 75 

in the sorrows of his disciples, and looked 
forward with desire for a suitable occasion 
of ministering to their comfort. Such an 
occasion was furnished in the observance of 
the last paschal supper. Then, in that upper 
room in Jerusalem, at the close of the sad 
and solemn feast, he rose and took bread, 
and brake it, and said, " Take, eat: this is my 
body which is broken for you." In us, who are 
familiar with all the facts and know the true 
import of these words, they excite no dismay. 
We behold the gloom and the glory at one 
view. But to them those words expressed 
chiefly violence and death. " Broken for you !" 
Awful and mysterious words ! After having 
long been dreaming of seats in an earthly 
kingdom, near the throne of their beloved 
Sovereign, to hear him speak of his body 
being broken and his blood shed for them, — 
how would it overwhelm them with astonish- 
ment and sorrow ! With these feelings they 
ate the bread and drank the wine ; and then 
he, seeing their affliction, poured forth those 
words of consolation recorded in the 14th, 
15th, and 16th chapters of John, beginning, 
'•Let not your hearts be troubled/' But for 
that last blessed conversation the disciples 
must have sunk into utter despondency. 



70 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

They loved their Master fervently; they be- 
lieved in him as the promised Christ; but as 
yet they did not understand the nature of his 
mission, or of the kingdom which he had 
come to establish. 

What a scene was there ! There stood the 
great Sufferer, crushed beneath the weight 
of the sins of a world, — a load which nothing 
short of infinite strength could sustain. The 
"horrible tempest" of Divine wrath is coming 
nearer and nearer. His innocent humanity 
shrinks in terror, and he exclaims, "Father, 
save me from this hour I" But instantly he 
remembers his high mission, and adds, "but 
for this cause came I unto this hour." In 
that awful storm which was beginning to 
beat upon him were mingled the wrath of 
God, the cruelty of men, and the malice of 
devils. There sat the weak, trembling, per- 
plexed, dispirited disciples. In his pity for 
them he seems for a time to forget his own 
sorrows, and to cheer them he utters words full 
of encouragement and hope, and even of joy. 
His eye saw the gloom as they could not see 
it; but beyond the gloom he saw the glory 
that would folio w T . He saw the joy that was 
set before him, and was content to endure 



THE LAST INTERVIEW. It 

the cross. He saw of the travail of his soul, 
and was satisfied. 

There he stood in their midst, in appear- 
ance not now so much that of a master as 
a brother, a companion, and a friend. His 
language has in it not one desponding word. 
All is joy and triumph. Love dictates every 
sentence, every precept, every promise. His 
opening is tender and affectionate beyond 
example ; his close, the sublimity of triumph : 
— "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the 
world. " 

In thinking of Jesus, we ought never to 
forget that he is "the same yesterday, to-day, 
and forever/' and that he was altogether 
as great and glorious in that upper chamber 
as he is "in the midst of the throne." In 
the scene so well portrayed by the pen of the 
Evangelist, we see him as he was, kind, affec- 
tionate, companionable, admitting his friends 
to the most intimate intercourse, and ex- 
pressing by word and deed the greatest fond- 
ness for their company. "I go to prepare a 
place for you ; and if I go and prepare a place 
for you, I will come again and receive you 
unto myself, that where I am there ye may 
be also." And in that wonderful prayer 
which followed, these are his words : — " Fa- 
7* 



JO THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

ther, I will that they also whom thou hast given 
me be with me where I am, that they may 
behold my glory." We may therefore safely, 
confidently, conclude that Jesus has, aud ever 
will have, an intense desire for the company 
and fellowship of his redeemed ones; and 
that in heaven we shall not worship him at an 
awful distance, but shall be admitted to still 
closer intimacy than were his disciples in the 
days of his flesh ; for we shall be more like 
him than they were. 

Jesus speaks of the period during which 
his disciples should not see him as " a little 
while;" and the same is true of all his people. 
A very minute portion of their existence is 
spent in a state of absence from him. A few 
saw him on earth, — saw him for a little while, 
— and then for a little while they lost sight of 
him; but soon they were with him again, 
and will remain with him forever. "I will 
see you again," said he; for it was expedient 
for them that he should leave them for a little 
while. 

"I will see you," he says to every one of 
■us who believe in him, to every one whom 
'he has redeemed. In earnest prayer, he 
says, "I will that they be with me where I 
am." Of them it is written, " They shall see 



THE DENIAL OF PETER. 79 

his face;" and John says, "We shall be like 
him, for we shall see him as he is." 

How good it would be for us could we rise 
to and maintain a realizing sense of these 
glorious prospects ! Then could we obey the 
closing injunction of the blessed Saviour, 
when he says, "Be of good cheer: I have 
overcome the world." Such a faith would 
bear us above the cares, anxieties, and temp- 
tations of the world; but, better still, it 
would render us proof against the dangers 
arising from its riches and honours and plea- 
sures. 



%\t genial &i fete. 

There is nothing better for the heart than 
the contemplation of the Saviour's character, 
as it is drawn out and exhibited before us in 
his unparalleled trials. In so learning Christ, 
we will do well to take a single incident at a 
time, rather than a succession of incidents. 

During that dreadful night in which he 
was betrayed, as narrated by the Evangelists, 
there are incidents enough set forth to show 



80 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

to us his whole character, — enough to occupy 
our thoughts forever. The tender and affect- 
ing scene in the upper chamber; the consola- 
tory and instructive farewell address; the 
prayer; the agony in the garden; the sleeping- 
disciples; the arrival of the band of soldiers; 
the perfidious kiss; the arrest; the flight of 
the disciples; the mock trial; the crown of 
thorns; the buffetings and insults of the cruel 
men by whom he was surrounded; and the 
denial of Peter. What a cluster of subjects 
for solemn contemplation ! 

In meditating upon these things, the Chris- 
tian will find his heart inclined to dwell upon 
one or another of the affecting incidents, 
according to the circumstances in which the 
providence of God has at the moment placed 
him. 

We propose now to dwell for a few mo- 
ments upon one incident of that ever- 
memorable night, which is equally affecting 
and instructive. We mean the denial of 
Peter. 

Peter loved his Master sincerely, passion- 
ately, vehemently; and this love was met by 
the deep and unchangeable love of Jesus in a 
measure beyond what we are able to conceive. 
What, then, must have been the agony of the 



THE DENIAL OP PETER. 81 

Saviour's soul — for he had the natural affec- 
tions of a man, a friend, a brother — when 
Peter, in that trying hour, denied him with 
cursing and bitterness ! " I know not the 
man !" exclaimed his unstable friend and dis- 
ciple, and then added to perfidy and falsehood 
the further sin of gross profanity. Jesus 
heard these words; and of all the wounds 
inflicted upon his spirit that night this was 
the deepest and the keenest. The traitorous 
kiss of Judas, and the gross insults of the 
rabble and the soldiers, were nothing com- 
pared to those words of vehement, scornful, 
thrice-repeated denial from a bosom-friend. 

But the blessed Saviour bore it all meekly. 
He did not withdraw his love and tender 
compassion from his faithless disciple. He 
knew the strength of his temptation; and 
his all-prevalent prayer preserved him from 
utter apostasy. He turned and looked upon 
Peter, and Peter remembered his words : his 
heart melted, his faith resumed its power in 
his heart, and his love revived and glowed 
more fervently than ever. 

That look was a look of love, of compassion 
and forgiveness. It spoke what tongue could 
not speak. It was not a frown, but a look 



82 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED nOUPvS. 

of unutterable sorrow, tenderness, and ex- 
postulation. 

We, too, are sometimes wounded in the 
house of our friends. Words of bitterness, 
uttered by those we love, sometimes enter 
our hearts and burn like coals of juniper, 
causing us to endure the insufferable torture 
of a wounded spirit. At such times let us 
call to remembrance the meekness and un- 
wavering love of Jesus when he was denied 
by him whose professions of attachment had 
been the most ardent of any; and, in our 
feelings and conduct towards the offending 
party, let us try to imitate his example. 
Jesus, by a look of tenderness and compas- 
sion, broke Peter's heart, and caused copious 
tears of penitence to flow, leaving him a 
wiser, humbler, and better man. So may 
we, by doing likewise, restore to ourselves 
the alienated affections of our friends, whose 
words or actions, like daggers, have pierced 
our souls. 

Had the Saviour resented the gross affront 
that was put upon him by Peter, even by a 
frown or a reproachful word, he might have 
rendered him an enemy forever. So we, if 
we would save our offending friend, no matter 
how sorely he may have wounded us, must 



THE DENIAL OF PETER. 83 

be the first to seek reconciliation. This is 
the way God does with sinners; this is the 
way Jesus did with Peter; and in this, as 
well as in other things, we must follow his 
example. 

It is a law in moral philosophy, seen as 
well in the dealings of God with men and 
men with God, as in the dealings of man with 
man, that the offending 'party hates and shuns 
the offended; and if there ever be any true, last- 
ing reconciliation, the first overture must come 
from the injured party. By nature we hate 
God. Why? Because we have injured him. 
God loves us, and seeks to be reconciled to 
us. Why ? Ah ! Christian, we must seek for 
the reason in his infinite goodness and mercy; 
but the fact that he loves us and seeks to be 
reconciled to us shows us that this wonderful 
moral law of which we have been speaking 
governs all moral beings, from the Infinite 
Creator himself down to the feeblest of his 
rational creatures. 

This great truth, while it reveals to us God 
reconciling a world of rebels and enemies to 
himself, reveals to us our duty in "some of the 
severest trials of the heart. 

Friend, has he in whom you confided been 
unfaithful or unkind, so that he has ceased to 



84 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

love you and you to love him? Has he acted 
in such a manner that you feel justified in 
casting him off? Do it not. Kemember 
that his offence is not so great as was Peter's, 
and Jesus did not cast him off. 

Wife, has your husband offended you in 
word or injured you in deed? Turn upon 
him a look of tenderness and love, as your 
Saviour did upon his erring disciple. Beseech 
him to be reconciled to you, as God has be- 
sought you to be reconciled to Him. Do 
not indulge the vain hope, if through his 
injurious conduct your hearts have become 
alienated, that he will seek reconciliation. It 
is not to be hoped for. It is contrary to the 
great law of man's moral nature. 

Husband, has your wife stung your heart 
with unkindness, with groundless accusations, 
with a withdrawal of her confidence, with 
words of wrath and bitterness, or in any way 
in which poor human nature may sin? Oh, 
place a guard upon your heart, lest the same 
enemy which has led her captive seize also 
upon you! Let your unchanging love call 
back your poor erring companion, as the 
love of Jesus rescued Peter. Had he waited 
until Peter should have repented and re- 



ABIDE WITH US. 85 

turned to his first love, he would have waited 
forever. 

These reflections might be extended indefi- 
nitely; but let this suffice. Our object is 
accomplished if we have succeeded in setting 
forth this great law of our moral being, and 
this all-important rule of action. 



" §bfot M\ as." 

After the death of Jesus, the disciples 
were for a time sunk in the deepest despond- 
ency. That He who had called the dead to 
life, subdued at a word the most obstinate 
diseases, and so commanded the winds and 
the waves that they obeyed him, — that he 
should die, and die such a death, was to them 
appallingly mysterious. They had heard the 
bitter taunt, "He saved others, himself he 
cannot save/' and now it really seemed as if 
such was the fact. All was dark, mysterious, 
and dreadful; and who can conceive the deso- 
lation of heart which they suffered 1 

In this condition, two of them had occasion 
to go to Emmaus, a village some eight miles 



86 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

distant from Jerusalem. As they walked 
along they conversed earnestly about the 
awful events which had just transpired; and 
the more they talked the more they were 
perplexed. At length they were joined by a 
stranger, who kindly inquired, "What man- 
ner of communications are these that ye have 
one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?" 
Cleopas seemed to be surprised at the ques- 
tion, and supposed that their new acquaint- 
ance must certainly be a stranger in Jeru- 
salem, or he would have known all about the 
death of their great Master. In the simplicity 
of their natures, they supposed that what filled 
their hearts must of course have occupied the 
thoughts of all others. 

In the fulness of his heart, Cleopas gave 
to the stranger a comprehensive account of 
the character and death of Jesus of Nazareth, 
" a prophet mighty in word and in deed/' and 
alluded, in impressive terms, to their crushed 
hope of the redemption of Israel. 

So far the stranger heard him with atten- 
tion and sympathy; and then, to their as- 
tonishment and delight, he told them more 
of Jesus than they had ever known. His 
words of wisdom and knowledge and love 
caused their hearts to burn within them, 



ABIDE WITH US. 87 

while he opened to them the Scriptures. 
Their perplexity was gone ; their sorrow was 
turned into joy ; all seemed bright again. 

Still the wondrous, the eloquent; the good 
stranger remained unknown. That it was 
Jesus himself seems never to have entered 
their minds; but already they began to love 
him with something like the fervour with 
which they had loved their Lord and Master. 
They could not bear to part with him : so 
when they reached the end of their journey 
they uttered the earnest entreaty, "Abide 
with us, for it is toward evening, and the day 
is far spent." He readily consented ; and at 
their evening repast "he took bread and 
blessed it, and brake, and gave it to them." 
Then were their eyes opened, and they knew 
him ; and, although he instantly vanished out 
of their sight, he left behind him such joy in 
the hearts of these good men, that, without a 
moment's delay, they hastened back to Jeru- 
salem to carry the joyful news to the other 
disciples that "the Lord is risen indeed." 

In this transaction we see a beautiful ex- 
ample of not only the love of Christ, but the 
love of the brethren. With childlike con- 
fidence the disciples made known to the 
benevolent stranger the cause of their own 



03 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

sorrow; and, when he entered into their 
feelings and cleared up their doubts and 
perplexities, they loved him as only Christ's 
disciples can love. Whoever the stranger 
might be, they soon discovered that he was 
like Christ, and was his friend; and hence 
they gave the kind invitation, " Abide with 
us." It was really a prayer, though they 
knew it not. Jesus accepted it as done 
to himself, for indeed it was done for his 
sake. 

Jesus has since ascended to his Father and 
our Father, to his God and our God; but he 
has left ample provision for the comfort and 
joy of all who truly believe. Still may we 
with perfect confidence say to him, as did the 
disciples of old, "Abide with us;" for he has 
said, "Lo, I am with you always." And 
again, "Where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the 
midst of them." And again, "He shall give 
you another Comforter, that shall abide with 
you forever." 

"Abide with us." We cannot say this to 
Jesus in sincerity and in truth unless we love 
him; and, if we do really love him, there is 
no petition which we may offer with greater 
confidence. Hear what he has said: — "If a 



PAUL AND THE JAILER. 89 

man love me, he will keep mj words ; and my 
Father will love him, and will come unto him, 
and we will make oar abode with him." Can 
any thing be more explicit ? The very thing 
that the two disciples asked is here emphati- 
cally promised. But hear him again : — 
a Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if 
any man hear my voice, and open the door, 
I will come in to him, and sup with him, and 
he with me/' With what entire propriety 
and perfect confidence, therefore, may we 
adopt the language of the disciples and say, 
"Abide with us." 



fad auto % $aiUr, 

"God is love," says the apostle; and if at 
times he manifests himself in the aspect of 
wrath and terror, still, these subordinate 
attributes are but ministering servants to 
that glorious one which constitutes the essen- 
tial element of his nature. " God is love •" 
but fallen, sinful man can only know and 
enjoy that love by being brought back from 
his wanderings by Christ the Good Shepherd. 



90 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Terror and severity may be necessary to 
show him his danger and induce him to flee 
for refuge to some real or imagined covert 
from the tempest; yet nothing but the still 
small voice of love can bring him to God; 
nothing else can break and melt his heart; 
nothing else can give him peace. 

Stricken with sinful fear, Elijah left the 
field of duty and conflict, and wandered on- 
ward and onward until he found himself in 
Horeb. His heart was dark, desponding, and 
rebellious. Taking refuge in a cavern of that 
mountain, he gloomily awaited his fate, re- 
volving, as we may gather from his words, 
harder thoughts of God than of himself. 
Here the Lord visited him. First he gave 
him a glimpse of his power and of his wrath 
in the triple terrors of tempest, earthquake, 
and fire ; but the narrative leaves us to infer 
that the lion-hearted prophet gazed upon 
these terrific phenomena with an unaffected 
heart. But after all had passed, and nature 
was hushed in repose unutterably deep when 
contrasted with the late turmoil, a still small 
voice struck upon his ear. That face which 
blanched not at the exhibitions of God's power 
and wrath is instantly covered with his 
mantle, and the great man bends, an humble 



PAUL AND THE JAILER. 91 

penitent^ before his God; for that still small 
voice of love and mercy was His voice. 

Many vainly imagine that if they had wit- 
nessed the wonders wrought by the prophets 
and apostles, but more especially by the Son 
of God, they would have believed, — they 
would have been among the number of his 
faithful followers. But it is a delusion as 
vain as that which filled the mind of the rich 
man in hell, when he exclaimed concerning 
his impenitent brethren, who were in danger 
of following him to the world of woe, a Nay, 
father Abraham, but if one rise from the 
dead they will repent." Wonders, prodigies, 
terrors, apprehension of judgment, can never 
of themselves lead to repentance. Nothing 
but the apprehension of the mercy of God 
through Christ can melt the heart of the 
sinner. All else but hardens if left to operate 
alone. 

The case of the jailer of Philippi is another 
most instructive example of the great truth 
that nothing but the goodness of God — the 
voice of love and mercy — is capable of bring- 
ing us to repentance. 

Paul and Silas, in their missionary travels, 
came /to Philippi, where they preached the 
gospel as in other places. A miracle was 



92 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

performed by Paul upon a damsel, in deliver- 
ing her from the power of a foul spirit, here 
called a spirit of divination, into the nature 
of which possessi Oxi it is not our purpose at 
this time to inquire. Suffice it to say that by 
doing so he destroyed forever the source of 
gain which some people had found in this 
unhappy young woman's calamity. Nothing 
so exasperates wicked men as interference 
with their profits, as is abundantly manifested 
in our day by the rage which is excited 
against those who endeavour to put an end 
to dealings in another kind of spirits, equally 
foul and far more destructive ; for that spirit, 
if let alone, would have destroyed one soul; 
this destroys thousands. 

Paul and Silas were seized, and, before a 
tribunal more of the character of a mob than 
of a court of justice, were condemned and 
sentenced to be severely beaten. This done, 
they were thrust into prison, and the jailer 
charged to keep them safely. He, in obedi- 
ence to the injunction of his masters, placed 
them in the inner prison and made their feet 
fast in the stocks. It were difficult to ima- 
gine a situation more forlorn and deplorable. 
To the eye of sense there could be no more 
wretched individuals in all that city than 



PAUL AND THE JAILER. 93 

Paul and Silas; but in that case the eye of 
sense would have brought back a very erro- 
neous report. They held communion with 
God in prayer, and at midnight were so filled 
with his fulness that they burst out in songs 
of praise. Jesus had said to Paul, " My grace 
shall be sufficient for thee;" and here we see 
how faithful he is to his promise. 

This was a strange sound in such a place 
and at such an hour. The usual language 
there was that of complaint, lamentation, 
curses, and blasphemy, — the utterance of re- 
morse, despair, or rage. But here is the 
voice of joy and gratitude and thanksgiving. 
"And the prisoners heard them." God saw 
the hearts that were melted and the tears 
that flowed that night in that prison at that 
song of praise. To some of them, doubtless, 
it was the " still small voice' ' of love and 
mercy, guided and made effectual by the 
Holy Spirit. The pen of inspiration is silent 
as to the effect of the wonders of that night 
upon the hearts of the prisoners ; but we may 
build our hopes upon the significant clause, 
"The prisoners heard them." 

"And suddenly there was a great earth- 
quake, so that the foundations of the prison 
were shaken; and immediately all the doors 



94 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

were opened, and every one's bands were 
loosed." That this earthquake was purely 
miraculous we may safely infer from its 
effects in opening the doors and liberating 
the prisoners from their fetters. And though 
the doors were opened and every one's bands 
loosed, by some strange attraction they all 
remained : not one attempted to escape. 
That strangely-sweet anthem of praise still 
sounded in their ears and thrilled their 
hearts, and, it may be, caused them to cluster 
around the wonderful men who had come to 
be their companions. 

At this most interesting point the keeper 
of the prison is again introduced.- "We are 
told that, " awaking out of his sleep and 
seeing the prison-doors open, he drew out his 
sword, and would have killed himself, sup- 
posing that the prisoners had been fled." 
That this was a wicked man we may con- 
fidently infer from the barbarous manner in 
which he carried out the orders of his supe- 
riors respecting Paul and Silas; for to put 
the feet of men abused as they were into the 
stocks was an act of abominable cruelty. 
But the tortures of his prisoners did not dis- 
turb his slumbers; for we are told that he 
slept until he found himself surrounded by 



PAUL AND THE JAILER. 95 

the terrors of the earthquake. But that 
produced no saving effect, no penitence; for 
we find that his chief concern was about his 
prisoners; for, seeing the doors all thrown 
open, he supposed that they had fled, of course. 
Driven to desperation at this thought, he 
was about to destroy himself. Among the 
Bornans, suicide, in some cases, was regarded 
as commendable ; and this man was about to 
act upon that heathenish sentiment, probably 
to escape the ignominious death that awaited 
him had the case been as he imagined. It is 
impossible to suppose that the jailer did not 
recognise in this tremendous event a super- 
natural power; but still he was not awed by 
it. It did not arouse his conscience : he 
thought only of his earthly masters and his 
own earthly honour. Never was that man's 
heart harder, never was he in higher rebellion 
against his Maker, than at that awful mo- 
ment. The earthquake had expended its 
terrors upon him without any saving effect; 
for "the Lord was not in the earthquake." 

But emotions which he never felt before 
poured like a flood through his heart at the 
voice of Paul, who, in a tone of kindness and 
love, cried out, "Do thyself no harm; for we 
are all here." His prisoners are safe,— his 



96 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

own life is safe; but his heart is broken. 
He trembles now, and, humbled, stricken, and 
convicted, he falls down before his two Chris- 
tian prisoners. What crushed this bold, bad 
man, who a moment before was about to rush 
unbidden into the presence of his Maker? It 
was love. Paul yearned for his salvation, 
and the Spirit of God carried the words of His 
servant with power to his heart. At the still 
small voice of God Elijah hid his face in his 
mantle, after witnessing unmoved the won- 
ders of his power : so the jailer, only hardened 
by the exhibition of divine power, was utterly 
subdued by the simple language of love and 
mercy, and cried, in accents of penitence and 
trembling hope, " Sirs, what must I do to 
be saved?" The goodness of God — not his 
severity — led this man to repentance. 

Some have very unwisely interpreted the 
anxious inquiry of the jailer as referring to 
his alarm about his prisoners. But Paul 
had already assured him that they were all 
safe, and that he had therefore nothing to 
apprehend on that account. His words re- 
moved the fear of man, but they implanted 
the fear of God; and now he is only anxious 
to be delivered from sin and its consequences. 
Paul so understood him, and directed him to 



PAUL AND THE JAILER. 97 

the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of 
salvation. 

I have confined myself to a single point in 
this instructive narrative, and that is the 
illustration which it affords of the great truth 
— too much forgotten — that the goodness of 
God leadeth to repentance, and that it is only 
the apprehension of the mercy of God in 
Christ that can ever awaken in the breast of 
a sinner true sorrow for sin. As we said 
before, terrors, judgments, and chastisements 
are useful, and are used as auxiliaries; and 
the apostle has said that "the law is a school- 
master to bring us to Christ ;" but all sacred 
history and all experience testify that these, 
of themselves, only harden the sinner and 
render him more desperately wicked. It was 
so with Pharaoh ; it was so with the jailer. 
A look of kindness and love broke Peter's 
heart; and a few kind words from a deeply- 
injured prisoner caused the cruel jailer of 
Philippi to cry for mercy, and were instru- 
mental in bringing him to Christ. 



98 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 



%\}t &m at ®\xtmm. 

In nothing does the character of the great 
apostle appear more lovely and attractive 
than in his short letter to Philemon. It is 
a model of epistolary composition. The heart 
of the writer pours itself out in language of 
the purest and most ardent affection to Phile- 
mon and a few friends whom he mentions by 
name. He then speaks of another friend 
and brother, whom he had found in the person 
of Onesimus, — a fugitive slave, as some would 
call him, — in terms very unlike what we are 
now in the habit of hearing from those who 
are engaged in returning fugitives to bondage. 

Philemon resided at Colosse, a populous 
city of Phrygia, in Asia Minor. He appears 
to have been a distinguished Christian. Paul 
not only addressed him as such, but speaks 
of the church in his house. He addressed one 
of his epistles to that church, or at least to 
the Colossian Christians, doubtless including 
Philemon and the church in his house. 



THE CASE OF ONESIMUS. 99 

Philemon, it appears, had a servant — or 
slave, if you please — named Onesiruus. For 
some reason Onesimus left his master — ran 
away, as we say now — and went to Eome, a 
distance of several hundred miles. No doubt 
he had often heard of Paul at Colosse, al- 
though it is probable that he never saw him; 
for there is no evidence that he was ever 
there. Be this as it may, it is certain that 
Onesimus attended upon the ministry of Paul 
at Eome, and that his instructions were 
blessed to his conversion. A close and 
affectionate intimacy appears to have grown 
up between the now venerable apostle and 
this man. Of course he would soon be made 
acquainted with the relations existing be- 
tween him and Philemon, and the cause of 
the former leaving his service. After reflec- 
tion, Paul determined to send Onesimus back 
to Philemon, and to that end he prepared the 
epistle before us. 

After warmly commending Philemon for 
his kindness to the saints, he proceeds : — 

"Wherefore, though I might be much bold 
in Christ to enjoin thee that which is con- 
venient, yet for love's sake I rather beseech 
thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and 
now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ." 



100 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

What dignity and meekness are here 
blended ! The appeal is perfectly irresistible, 
coming not only from Paul the aged, but 
Paul the prisoner, — a prisoner for Jesus' sake. 
He goes on : — 

"I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, 
whom I have begotten in my bonds ; which 
was in times past to thee unprofitable, but 
now profitable to thee and me; whom I have 
sent again : thou therefore receive him that 
is my own bowels; whom I would have re- 
tained with me, that in thy stead he might 
have ministered unto me in the bonds of the 
gospel. But without thy mind would I do 
nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it 
were of necessity, but willingly. For per- 
haps he therefore de£>arted for a season, that 
thou shouldest receive him forever, not now 
as a servant, but above a servant, a brother 
beloved, especially to me, but how much more 
unto thee both in the flesh and in the Lord ! 
If thou count me therefore a partner, receive 
him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, 
or oweth thee aught, put that on mine ac- 
count : I, Paul, have written it with mine 
own hand, I will repay it; albeit I do not 
say to thee how thou owest unto me even 
thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let mo 



THE CASE OF ONESIMUS. 101 

have joy of thee in the Lord; refresh my 
bowels in the Lord. Having confidence in 
thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing 
that thou wilt also do more than I say." 

At this time, when so much is said on the 
subject of slavery, this epistle is peculiarly 
interesting and important. We shall en- 
deavour to examine it with the care and re- 
verence due to the oracles of God. 

It is true that slavery, or involuntary 
servitude, existed in the Eoman Empire in the 
days of the apostles, as it had in all heathen 
countries from the earliest ages. 

It is true that the relation of master and 
servant existed between Philemon and Onesi- 
mus. So far there can be no controversy. 

It is probable that this relation existed 
prior to Philemon's conversion to Chris- 
tianity, as it is certain that it existed prior 
to the conversion of Onesimus. 

It was, according to the existing laws of 
the Empire, a lawful relation, and it was a 
relation which Christianity did not, in ex- 
press terms, forbid. It found it existing, and 
acted upon it as it did upon every thing else. 
We shall see how it acted upon the relation 
as it existed between these two men. 

Onesimus was a fugitive slave when Paul 



102 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

found him, or, rather, he found Paul. This 
fact Paul knew, for doubtless Onesimus told 
him all about it. After a while, finding 
that Onesimus was a firm and devoted Chris- 
tian, Paul felt it to be his duty to send him 
back to his former master. We say former 
master, because Onesimus seems to have at- 
tached himself to Paul as a voluntary servant. 
But now comes the important question : — 

How did he send him back? As a slave, 
or as a freeman ? The supporters of our fu- 
gitive-slave law, and its clerical apologists, 
have tried to draw much aid and comfort 
from this epistle. They point triumphantly 
to the fact that Paul himself recognised the 
right of one man to hold property in another, 
and returned a runaway slave to his owner 
and master. It is painful to hear and to 
read such arguments, or, permit us to say, 
such perversions. 

How did he send him back ? Did he bring 
Onesimus before a legal tribunal, and have 
his case adjudicated and the slave remanded? 
For, according to some of his interpreters, 
this ought to have been his course. 

In what character did he send him back ? 
Let Paul himself answer: — "Not now as a 
servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved: 



THE CASE OF ONESIMUS. 103 

. . . receive him as myself" Ponder these few 
words, and then say, if you can, that Paul 
remanded a slave. It is a gross slander upon 
the memory of that illustrious man, and a 
libel upon the holy religion he taught. "Re- 
ceive him as myself." Would Philemon have 
received and treated Paul as a slave ? If so, 
then he received Onesimus at Paul's hand as 
a piece of restored property. 

Onesimus, at Paul's request, went back to 
Philemon, carrying the letter from which we 
have quoted. On his part it was at once an 
act of filial and Christian obedience. He 
knew the reception that awaited him, and 
the errand would be one of joy and triumph. 
His return was voluntary; it was the act of 
a freeman ; for no power but the power of 
love constrained him. The law of love was 
the only law brought to bear upon the case; 
and that law changed the man from a slave 
to a freeman. Were it not impious to do so, 
we might institute a comparison between the 
law to which Paul resorted in the case before 
us, and our law of 1850. Suffice it to say 
that we can perceive not a single feature in 
common. The contrast is as great as it can 
be. Think of Christ and Barabbas, and you 
have the embodiment of both. 



104 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

"We have no account of the meeting between 
Philemon and Onesimus; but we may safely 
say that Paul was not mistaken when he said 
in his letter, "Thou wilt do more than I say." 
In his ejnstle to the Colossians Paul mentions 
Onesimus in most affectionate and honourable 
terms, as "a faithful and beloved brother/' 
the associate of Tychicus, his messenger. 
This was written probably at the same time 
that Onesimus was remanded to slavery, as some 
of the good people of our day are pleased to 
have it. 

It is generally believed that Onesimus sub- 
sequently became a preacher of the gospel ; 
but on this subject the Scriptures are silent. 

In this transaction we see the legitimate 
working of Christianity. It does nothing 
by force or violence. It found Onesimus a 
slave; and, although it did not emancipate 
him by authority, yet it did emancipate him. 
How ? By the law, the power, of love. Why 
did it do so? Why did it not leave him as 
he was? Because the condition in which it 
found him was incomj^atible with the spirit 
and genius of the gospel, which is the great 
law of love. Christ came " to proclaim liberty 
to the captives, and the opening of the prisons 
to them that are bound;" and we see in the 



THE CASE OF ONESIMUS. 105 

case before us how he does it. His gospel, like 
himself, does "no violence;" yet it is the great 
emancipator: those whom it makes free are 
free indeed. It first made Philemon free, free 
from selfishness, covetousness, revenge, and 
all that unholy train of passions which would 
have rendered him unable, because unwilling, 
to receive Onesimus as Paul desired him to 
do. That done, Onesimus is first fitted for 
freedom, and then put in possession of it; 
and thus the two men are reunited, but by a 
far different bond from that which first held 
them together. 

We close with the single remark that a 
careful examination of this epistle has left 
upon our mind the conviction that where the 
gospel is free slavery cannot long exist; 
that it is a condition incompatible with its 
genius and spirit. 



106 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 



God, in all his works, points upwards, 
through an almost infinite range of being, 
beginning in the rudest and lowest forms of 
organic matter, and rising through order 
after order, until the line of progression ter- 
minates in himself. In the lowest orders of 
animal existence we find some of the rudi- 
mental lineaments of man, who is the head 
and crown of the animal series : so in man we 
behold the image of God, — rudimental, it is 
true, and but faintly developed, still real and 
unmistakable. 

We may go to the lowest orders, and there 
we shall find not only analogy in structure, 
but some traces of intelligence, faint shadow- 
ings forth of mind, the power of choice and 
of design, and the possession of as much skill 
as the necessities of the creature require; 
all of which teach us that in the fulness of 
life as well as in death we may, with Job, say 
to the worm, " Thou art my mother and my 



TYPES. 107 

sister;" for we are all made on one common 
plan, we are all links of the same chain, we 
have one common type; we are the creatures 
of one common Father, who is of one mind 
and changeth not. 

The man Adam was the type of man in 
every age and condition. In his primitive 
state of innocence he stood as the type of 
Him by whom and for whom he and all things 
were made. Having sinned, he fled from the 
divine presence; and there we see him as the 
type of a fallen, rebellious, and ruined race. 
Being recalled, we behold in him the type of 
every penitent sinner, — the lineaments of the 
saints of all ages. 

In the quarrel of Cain with Abel we have 
a striking type of the opposition which the 
world has ever shown to Christ and his king- 
dom; and the terrible cry heard four thousand 
years afterwards in the streets of Jerusalem, 
" Away with him! Away with him! Crucify 
him! Crucify him!" was but the utterance 
and culmination of the same spirit. In Adam 
we see a type of all the world, but in his 
two sons we have an emblem of the world 
divided. 

The Ark is a striking figure of Christ, and 
Noah and his family of the great family of 



108 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

the redeemed ; and in the whole story of the 
flood, as given in the Bible, we have not only 
a simple and graphic narrative of facts, but 
these facts are themselves allegorical, setting 
forth, as in a parable, the great work of sal- 
vation. 

In the call of Abraham we have a lively 
type of that call which brings us from the 
kingdom of nature to that of grace, — from 
Satan to God. At once the father and the 
exemplar of the faithful, his history is an 
ever-brilliant index to direct pilgrims of all 
ages in their path to heaven. 

The exodus from Egypt is a vivid type of 
our deliverance from the bondage of sin and 
Satan, and of our introduction to the glorious 
liberty of the sons of God; and the journey- 
ings of the Israelites in the desert, their 
wanderings, their rebellions, and the many 
mercies and chastenings of which they were 
the subjects, are all wonderfully emblematic 
of the Christian's life, from the moment 
of his espousals to the close of his conflict 
with temptation without and corruption 
within, until, crossing the Jordan of death, 
he arrives safely in the promised land. 

In the history and writings of David we 
see, as in a mirror, every phase of a believer's 



TYPES. 109 

life and experience. We see Faith — beautiful, 
simple, childlike Faith — embodied, and living 
and acting before us. We listen enraptured 
to his lofty praise, and sympathetically catch 
his fire. In his grievous sins we discover the 
frailty and the hidden evils of our own hearts, 
and in his deep penitence we learn how to 
repent of our own sins. In sorrow and in 
joy, in the gloomy vale and on the sun-lit 
mount, whether lying at the portals of hell 
or standing at the gate of heaven, this man 
after God's own heart, this impulsive creature 
of circumstances, this pilgrim whose path to 
glory traversed the utmost extremes of Chris- 
tian experience, is at once our most promi- 
nent exemplar and beacon; and his words 
are to all ages the common property of the 
church. 

In the history of the long line of subsequent 
kings the thoughtful Christian will not fail 
to discover a type of his own alternate lapses 
and restorations; and in grateful remem- 
brance of the goodness and faithfulness of 
Him who is his Guardian, Guide, and Keeper, 
he will exclaim, " He restoreth my soul ; He 
maketh me to walk in the paths of righteous- 
ness for his name's sake." 

In all the history of man, as drawn by the 



110 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

pen of inspiration, the careful student will 
not fail to perceive that the pictures are 
general as well as special; that the characters 
are types of classes as well as individuals; 
that God in his providence and his word has 
revealed to us more .truth, more knowledge 
of himself and of ourselves, by means of living 
examples, than we could possibly receive in 
any other way. Faith, hope, and charity, 
joy and sorrow, benevolence and selfishness, 
truth and falsehood, faithfulness and perfidy, 
patience and fretfulness, are set before us in 
living, breathing truth; and in the great 
centre of that system of grace and truth — 
Jesus Christ — all that is glorious in God and 
good in sinless humanity meet and blend and 
shine with a lustre as far surpassing that of 
the greatest and best of men as the sun sur- 
passes the dew-drop that glitters in his 
beams; and, glorious as he is, he is clearly 
and plainly set before us for our contempla- 
tion, — the God veiled in the man, — so that 
"we all, with open face beholding, as in a 
glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
the same image from glory to glory, even as 
by the Spirit of the Lord." 






THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. Ill 



%\i fgtancisgt at %mt. 

I^he Bible is unlike other ancient histories; 
for, while these give us nothing but dry de- 
tails of the doings of warriors and rulers, 
that leads us back to the times of the patri- 
archs, shepherds, lawgivers, judges, warriors, 
prophets, and kings whose lives and actions 
make up the staple of its narrative. The first 
bring those old generations down to us as 
they would bring dried and shrivelled mum- 
mies from the pyramids and catacombs of 
Egypt; the other transports us back to their 
tents and dwellings, and we seem to mingle 
with them in their pastoral life, and rejoice 
or mourn with them as we would with our 
present living friends. The stories of Joseph, 
of Ruth, of the Shunammite, of the lovely 
family who lived at Bethany, and of the still 
more interesting one of which Jesus was the 
head, are among the most notable examples 
of this living style of history. 

In the 24th chapter of Genesis we have a 



J 12 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

narrative of surpassing beauty and interest. 
Isaac has grown to manhood; Sarah, his 
mother, is dead; Abraham, the pilgrim and 
stranger as well as the patriarch and prince, 
is old and well stricken in age; and the Lord 
had blessed him in all things. He knew that 
lie must soon be called home. His son was 
now the only object of his solicitude; for in 
his person was bound up the Hope of the 
world, the Desire of ail nations, the Promised 
Seed. 

The whole world was sinking into idolatry ; 
the mist and darkness of universal apostasy 
w T as slowly settling down upon the race of 
man. One star alone remained unobscured, 
and that star was then only visible in his own 
child of promise; but by faith he saw, through 
the vista of many generations, the glorious 
day of the Son of man. Oh, what a terrible 
thought to that aged and faithful heart that 
this twinkling light, this star of hope, should 
be quenched forever in the floods of surround- 
ing idolatry! True, he rested firmly in the 
promises of his covenant God; but his faith 
was attested by works and by all the means 
and precautions which were in his power. 

There was something in the position of 
Abraham in the world which it is difficult for 



THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 113 

us, in this age of civilization and far-reaching 
institutions, to understand. Called of God to 
leave Ur of the Chaldees, his native place, 
he was led by successive steps to Canaan, the 
land which God had said he would show him 
and give him. 

This land was preoccupied by numerous 
petty princes and their retainers, — subjects, 
serfs, or servants, just as we may choose to 
call them. The sacred writers generally call 
them servants. Abraham set out from Haran 
with some servants or dependants, and was 
accompanied by Lot, his nephew. When he 
entered Canaan, he entered it as a pilgrim 
and stranger; yet he never became subject to 
any of the princes of the country, while at 
the same time he never acquired any do- 
minion over the territory, nor did he build 
any city or permanent habitation. God 
blessed him greatly in the increase of his 
flocks and herds and in the number of his 
servants. " Thou art a mighty prince amongst 
us," said the sons of Heth; yet the only pos- 
session he ever acquired in the land was a 
burying-place. He was a shepherd-prince, 
and lived in peace with his neighbours all his 
days; yet were his servants trained to war, 
10* 



114 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

and on at least one occasion he and they saw 
a little active service. 

There is no relation now existing among 
men similar to that which existed between 
Abraham, Job, and other patriarch-princes 
and their dependants. Some people try to 
make it out that they were slave-holders, 
because we read that some of their servants 
were bought with money. Well, when the 
usages of slavery shall be the same as pre- 
vailed in the family of Abraham, — when the 
slaves shall share with the master in religious 
privileges, he being their priest and teacher 
as well as lord, — when slaves shall be trained 
to bear arms, as his were, — when the}^ shall 
with him form one little kingdom, or, as it is 
expressed in the case of Job, one "house- 
hold," — and when there shall be no other 
institutions for human government, for the 
protection of the weak against the strong, — 
then will good men cease to find fault with 
slavery. These men were no more the slaves 
of Abraham than Joab was the slave of David, 
or the men of whom the Queen of Sheba spoke 
when she said, "Happy are these thy servants 
which stand continually before thee, and that 
hear thy wisdom." Abraham united in his 
own person the character and functions of 






THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 115 

father, priest, and prince, or supreme magis- 
trate. It is calumnious, therefore, to call him 
a slave-holder, and a flagrant error to suppose 
that the patriarchal system of government 
had anything in common with the institution 
of slavery as maintained in our Southern 
States. The one was designed to secure and 
defend the rights of the poor and the helpless; 
the other to do the very reverse. 

But we digress. Abraham had one old and 
faithful servant, who for a long time was the 
steward of his household, Eliezer of Da- 
mascus. It is said of him that he ruled over 
all that Abraham had. In virtue of his age 
and authority, even Isaac himself, now grown 
to manhood, was placed under his authority. 
To him Abraham said, " Put, I pray thee, 
thy hand under my thigh, [then the usual 
form of an oath,] and I will make thee swear 
by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God 
of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife 
unto my son of the daughters of the Canaan- 
ites, among whom I dwell; but thou shalt go 
unto my country, and to my kindred, and 
take a wife unto my son Isaac." Eliezer 
gave the required pledge, and took upon him- 
self this important and delicate trust. He 
felt the solemn responsibility of this commis- 



116 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

sion; for Abraham had laid upon him two 
charges, — one, that Isaac should not take a 
wife from among the daughters of the Ca- 
naanites, the other, that in no case was he to 
allow him to go to Mesopotamia. Then the 
question arose, Suppose the woman should 
not be willing to come with the aged servant? 
"If the woman will not be willing to follow 
thee/' said Abraham, "then thou shalt be 
clear from this my oath : only bring not my 
son thither again." 

At the call of God, Abraham had himself 
left his kindred and the land of his nativity 
to dwell as a stranger in another land. He 
broke off all intercourse w T ith the one country, 
and formed no alliances with the other. Paul 
beautifully expresses this in the 11th chapter 
of Hebrews : — "By faith he sojourned in the 
land of promise, as in a strange country, 
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, 
the heirs with him of the same promise." 
The same law which bound him, the same 
covenant into which he had entered, was 
equally binding upon his son. Under no 
circumstances, therefore, was he to return to 
his father's kindred and native country. The 
separation was perfect and entire; and the 
woman w T ho should be his companion in life 



THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 117 

must first become a pilgrim and a stranger 
like himself. 

ISo doubt "Abraham felt assurance that God 
would prosper them in this solemn and im- 
portant business; but his language shows 
us that he had received no divine revelation 
to that effect. God had left him to the exer- 
cise of a wise discretion, just as he leaves us 
in the conduct of our families and our busi- 
ness. 

The Eible calls Eliezer Abraham's servant, 
and so he was; but it was in the same sense 
in which an ambassador is the servant of his 
sovereign. In accordance with the usages 
of the times, he set out on his journey with 
ten camels, with attendants, and with rich 
presents for her who was to be the wife of 
Isaac, and for her friends. His destination 
was Nahor, a city of Mesopotamia, nearly 
four hundred miles from Canaan, — a long 
journey for those days. 

Arrived at the walls of the city, the good 
old man felt the full difficulty of his position 
and his need of more than man's wisdom and 
sagacity; for among the thousands of ^Nahor 
how would he dare to choose a wife for Isaac ? 
With a faith strong as his master's and simple 
as that of a little child, he referred the matter 



118 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

entirely to God. "And he said, Lord God 
of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me 
good speed this day, and show kindness to 
my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here 
by the well of water; and the daughters of 
the men of the city come out to draw water : 
and let it come to pass that the damsel to 
whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I 
pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall 
say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink 
also; let the same be she that thou hast 
appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby 
shall I know that thou hast showed kindness 
unto my master." Was ever prayer so direct, 
so childlike, so circumstantial ? It is the very 
embodiment of faith ; and not only so, but it 
contains a lifelike picture of those primitive 
times, — a picture which we may contemplate 
from half a dozen different stand-points and 
every view be equally interesting and beauti- 
ful. 

The wall of the city, under which Eliezer 
stood, shows us the insecurity of those early 
times. 

The well by the wall, to which the inhabit- 
ants resorted, shows us how scarce, and 
therefore precious, was that beverage with 
which we are so profusely supplied. 



THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 119 

" The daughters of the men of the city" 
coming out to draw water, not only for 
domestic purposes, but for the supply of 
thirsty animals, is another beautiful feature 
in the scene. " Say not/' says Solomon, 
"that the former days were better than 
these ;" but we fear that few of the daughters 
of the men of our cities are so usefully or 
healthfully employed. 

The request that Eliezer proposed to make, 
and the response he required, as a sign or 
token of the divine will, is an evidence that 
he well knew the kindness of the female 
heart. It was a good mark of a good and 
kind woman, and of one that would make an 
excellent wife. Beauty, or wealth, or rank, 
was not asked. 

. Before he had done speaking, Eebecca came 
out of the gate of the city with her pitcher 
upon her shoulder. She was very pretty, or, 
as the sacred writer expresses it, "very fair 
to look upon." She went down to the well, 
filled her pitcher, and came up. Good old 
Eliezer, having uttered his prayer, did not 
forget what he had asked for, as many of us 
are too apt to do, but proceeded immediately 
to seek the token for which he had prayed. 
Running to the maiden, he said, "Let me, I 



120 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher." 
Promptly, and with the gushing kindness of 
a true woman's heart, she replied, " Drink, 
my lord;" and, lowering the pitcher from her 
shoulder to her hand, she gave him drink; 
then — exactly as he had prayed that it might 
be — she added, " I will draw water for thy 
camels also, until they have done drinking." 
Truly, here was a pretty serious undertaking 
for a woman. There were ten camels; and 
they drink enormously after traversing a dry 
region, as these had done. But she did it; 
and, as pitcher after pitcher was poured into 
the trough, how must the old man's heart 
have bounded with joy at the prompt and 
full answer to his prayer! Ah ! Rebecca, you 
are giving him water to drink that you 
know not of. 

This done, Eliezer took a golden ear-ring 
and a pair of massive golden bracelets and 
put them upon her, and then asked her whose 
daughter she was, and whether there was 
room in her father's house to lodge in. 
Having told him whose daughter she was, 
she added, "We have both straw and pro- 
vender enough, and room to lodge in." In 
the fulness of his heart, Eliezer "bowed down 
his head and worshipped the Lord, and said, 



THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 121 

Blessed be the Lord God of my master 
Abraham, who hath not left destitute my 
master of his mercy and his truth : I being 
in the way, the Lord led me to the house of 
my master's brethren." 

Kebecca's brother Laban, having ascer- 
tained in some way that a stranger stood at 
the well, ran out to proffer that hospitality 
which was then and still is a charming cha- 
racteristic of the people of the East. There 
were no public houses; and what are called 
inns in the Scripture probably did not then 
exist. These inns were large square build- 
ings, erected at public expense, where cara- 
vans and other travellers could find shelter; 
but usually they had to provide and prepare 
their own food. They are more properly 
called caravansaries. Whether there was 
any such establishment at Nahor or not, 
Laban quickly prepared his house for the 
reception of the stranger and his attendants, 
and made provision for their animals. In 
this he did nothing remarkable for that 
age of the world. In the 18th chapter of 
Genesis we have a most interesting account 
of Abraham's hospitality, and, in the 19th, 
of Lot's. Paul enjoins the same virtue 
upon Christians, adding, "for thereby some 



122 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

have entertained angels unawares/' alluding 
to Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and perhaps 
others. 

Before Laban reached Eliezer, his sister 
had informed him of who the stranger was, 
and of all that had taken place. He then 
went to him, and in the fulness of his heart 
he exclaimed, "Come in, thou blessed of the 
Lord : wherefore standest thou without ? for 
I have prepared the house and room for the 
camels." 

j^ow let us follow the earnest old man into 
the house. Almost immediately food was set 
before him; " but he said, I will not eat until 
I have told mine errand." He then told them 
the whole story of Abraham's prosperity, of 
his son, of his own commission in regard to 
obtaining a wife for him, of his prayer for a 
token from the Lord as to the person he had 
chosen for Isaac's wife, and of his finding in 
Eebecca the exact token for which he had 
prayed. "And now," said he, "if ye will 
deal kindly and truly with my master, tell 
me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to 
the right hand or to the left." Truly this 
was coming quickly to the point in so delicate 
a matter; but the simple-hearted faith and 
piety of Eliezer had brought the divine will 



THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 123 

to be so unmistakably manifest in the trans- 
action that there could be but one answer to 
his proposal. "The thing proceedeth from 
Jehovah/' said Laban and Bethuel : "we 
cannot speak unto thee bad or good/' The 
consent of all parties was at once obtained. 
Then Eliezer again bowed his head and 
worshipped; and, having bestowed upon the 
bride elect and upon her friends the princely 
presents with which Abraham had furnished 
him ; he and his attendants ate and drank. 
Can the history of the world show us another 
such ambassador, if we except Him who said, 
"My meat is to do the will of him that sent 
me, and to finish his work" ? 

Yery naturally Eebecca's mother and 
brother plead with Eliezer that she might 
abide with them a little while longer, if it 
were but ten days. But no; it must not be. 
"'Hinder me not," said the faithful man, 
(i seeing the Lord hath prospered my way." 
Eebecca promptly consented to go the next 
morning; and so they set off, followed by the 
benedictions of the family. 

At length the company reached Canaan; 
and the first incident mentioned is their 
meeting with Isaac, who had gone in the 
evening to walk and meditate. A stranger 



124 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

in the land of his birth, without brother or 
sister, his mother's grave yet wet with his 
tears, and his venerable father sinking under 
the infirmities of age ; well might he com- 
mune with his own heart and with his 
covenant God as he walked and was sad. 
And the embassy of Eliezer would, more- 
over, be a subject of anxiety and solicitude. 
But presently he was aroused by the sound 
of an approaching caravan, and, looking up, 
he saw Eliezer and his companions coming, 
accompanied by a young woman. Suffice 
it to say that Rebecca immediately became 
the wife of Isaac, — the mistress of his 
mother's tent; "and," adds the historian, 
with that peculiar tact which throws a 
volume of meaning into a few simple words, 
"Isaac teas comforted after his mother's 
death" 



Jacob's interview with pharaoh. 125 



Irab's ittteririeto toitfe IftaOT^ 

Driven by famine, the patriarch Jacob 
and his family repaired to Egypt, at the in- 
vitation of his son Joseph, of which God had 
made him the ruler. His life had been one 
of sorrow and various and sore trials. But 
God had been his Guide and Portion; and 
now, in his old age, he has found a haven of 
rest in a strange land, under the protection 
of his illustrious son, with all his children 
and grandchildren around him. 

a And Joseph brought in Jacob his father 
and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob 
blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto 
Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said 
unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my 
pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years : 
few and evil have the days of the years of 
my pilgrimage beeu." Is this the language 
of coinj:>laint ? No; but it is the language 
of humility. At that age of the world, per- 
haps more than at present, length of days 



126 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

challenged veneration and respect; but Jacob 
endeavoured to convince the king that no 
special honour was due to him on account of 
venerable age. His days, in his own esteem, 
had been not only few but evil, marred by 
sin and clouded with sorrow. His life — his 
long life, as we would esteem it — appeared to 
him, in the retrospect, but as a vapour which 
had appeared for a little while and was about 
to vanish away. The years of his childhood 
now looked like a speck in the dim distance. 
The twenty-one years of service in Padan- 
aram were now contracted to a handbreadth in 
the receding vista of memory. The frequent 
visits of his Almighty Friend and Guardian 
and Guide would seem to crowd nearer and 
nearer together in his recollection as the 
every -day scenes of life faded away; and his 
own grievous sins would, like David's, be 
ever before him. 

This was the time when the period of hu- 
man life was rapidly diminishing. Noah had 
lived nine hundred and fifty years, and died 
but one year before the birth of Abraham. 
The life of Shem was protracted to six hun- 
dred years. Arphaxad, his son, lived four 
hundred and thirty -eight years. At the death 
of Arphaxad, Abraham was one hundred 



Jacob's interview with pharaoh. 127 

and twenty-five years old, and Isaac twenty- 
five. Thus we see how rapidly the span of 
human life was diminishing. Jacob's whole 
life extended to one hundred and forty-seven 
years, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten. 
But two hundred years after the death of 
Joseph Moses wrote, " The days of our 
years are three scoreyears and ten ; and if 
by reason of strength they be fourscore 
years, yet is their strength labour and sor- 
row; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away;" 
and so the period of man's life has continued 
ever since. Moses himself lived to a much 
greater age, but his life and strength were 
miraculously preserved. During a period of 
about eight hundred years, therefore, ex- 
tending from the Flood to the time of Moses, 
human life was reduced from almost one 
thousand years to less than one hundred. 
It need not excite surprise, therefore, to hear 
Jacob say, after having lived one hundred 
and thirty years, that his days had been few. 
"The days of the years of my 'pilgrimage" 
says the patriarch. Although life and im- 
mortality had been but darkly and obscurely 
revealed, yet Paul expressly tells us that 
Jacob was one of those who looked for "a 
better country, even an heavenly," and so 



128 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

regarded themselves as "strangers and pil- 
grims upon earth." "My pilgrimage!" The 
language does not refer to his wanderings in 
early life, nor to his late journey to Eg}~pt; but 
it teaches us that Jacob habitually regarded 
life as only a journey, a pilgrimage through 
this world to his everlasting habitation, — to 
those mansions of which the Saviour speaks. 
Not a journey to the grave, — for even that is 
but a temporary resting-place for the mortal 
part of the believer, — but to heaven. 

There is something sublimely beautiful, as 
well as sad, in the picture which the patriarch 
gives of his own life. His days had been 
few, — far short of those of his ancestors. 
Jacob sighed at the thought that the strength 
of man, which, a few generations back, had 
enabled him to sustain the buffetings of 
nearly a thousand years, was so rapidly giv- 
ing way that he found himself a wreck at 
the end of a single century. And his days 
had been not only few, but evil. His life had 
been one of sorrow. Jacob had been sorely 
chastened, but it was all for his profit; and 
now he stands at the end of his rough journey 
filled with hope, and with little else to do but 
to bestow his parting blessing upon those 
whom he loved, and take his place with 



Jacob's interview with pharaoh. 129 

Abraham and Isaac in the kingdom of his 
Father. 

It is evident from Jacob's language that 
he habitually regarded this life as only a pil- 
grimage. The very word presupposes a 
place towards which the pilgrim is journey- 
ing, — a rest, a home, an abiding habitation. 
It is one thing to feel and acknowledge this 
at times when solemn scenes or serious re- 
flections press the truth upon the mind ; but 
it is a very different thing to entertain it as 
an habitual, ever-present thought. This is 
what we ought ever to aim at, to cultivate 
and cherish, until the thought of heaven 
shall be the same to us as the thought of 
home is to the returning traveller after a long 
and weary journey. Then will the evils and 
toils of the journey be lightly esteemed and 
easily borne, and the provisions for the pil- 
grimage, which "the Lord of the way" has 
kindly provided, be estimated at their proper 
value, thankfully received, and richly enjoyed. 
If our days be few, it is well : we are the 
sooner home. If they are evil, if the way is 
rough and toilsome, no matter : heaven will 
bring us sweeter rest. The Saviour's com- 
mand is, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in 
heaven, that where your treasure is your 



130 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

hearts may be also." This precept har- 
monizes sweetly with that of which we are 
speaking; for let our treasure and our hearts 
be in heaven, and it will be easy to feel that 
our life is but a pilgrimage, — that we are 
going home. , 

Jacob lived one hundred and forty-seven 
years on earth; but he has already been 
more than three thousand }^ears in heaven. 
His pilgrimage on earth to us appears to 
have been long and weary; but how short 
it must appear in his view now ! His trials 
were severe; but now he sees that those light 
afflictions, which were but for a moment, 
worked for him a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory. 

Now, let us try to realize that we are on 
a pilgrimage as Jacob was. He got safely 
home long ago ; but no safer than we shall, 
if we have made our peace with Jacob's God 
and put ourselves under his protection. It 
is our privilege to walk in clearer light than 
Jacob had, and to reach home by a shorter 
journey. But when we arrive where he is, 
we shall sit down with him and all the ran- 
somed host in the kingdom of our Father; 
for our Saviour has told us that they shall 
come from the east and from the west, and 



MOSES IN EXILE. 131 

shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob in that kingdom. In a little while, 
dear reader, you and I shall be there too, 
provided we have not taken this world as our 
portion and laid up our treasure here. 



3Pms in (Mt 

That is a noble testimony which Paul 
bears to the character of Moses, — that "he es- 
teemed the reproach of Christ greater riches 
than the treasures of Egypt." In this we 
discover the true secret of his subsequent 
excellence and honour; for among great men 
he stands without a peer. All the conquerors, 
kings, and statesmen of antiquity dwindle 
into pygmies when brought into comparison 
with him; and the Holy Spirit himself testi- 
fies that " there arose not a prophet since in 
Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew 
face to face, in all the signs and the wonders 
which the Lord sent him to do in the land 
of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, 
and to all his land, and in all that mighty 



132 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

hand, and of all the great terror which Moses 
showed in the sight of all Israel." 

Thrown by the providence of God, in his 
early childhood, into the family of the King 
of Egypt, and yet not deprived of the in- 
struction of a pious mother, he grew up to 
manhood under the most favourable circum- 
stances for the development of his mental 
powers; for Stephen tells us that he was 
"learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, 
and was mighty in words and in deeds." In 
this condition of life he remained until he 
was "full forty years old." Possessing native 
talents, doubtless, of the highest order, and 
enjoying all the advantages that royalty 
could throw around him, his advances in 
knowledge and administrative skill were as 
far and as high as human erudition was able 
to carry him. We see in this how God edu- 
cates his servants and fits them for their 
work. He lets man do what man can do, 
and what man cannot do he does himself. 
Little did the wise men of Egypt dream that 
their lessons to their gifted pupil were fitting 
him for the performance of those terrible 
acts which struck terror to the hearts of the 
Egyptians and humbled that proud and op- 
pressive nation to the dust. And as little 



MOSES IN EXILE. 133 

did Gamaliel think that in the talented and 
earnest Saul of Tarsus he was developing 
powers to be consecrated to the service of 
Jesus of Nazareth. 

But, surrounded as Moses was with all the 
wisdom, wealth, honour, and splendour of the 
Egyptian court, the Holy Spirit kept alive 
those holy principles which had been instilled 
into his infant mind by Amram and Jochebed, 
his parents. He ceased not to remember 
that he was an Israelite, and that he owed 
homage and obedience to Israel's God. 

At that mature age God led him away 
from the scenes of his earlier advantages by 
a series of mysterious events. The children 
of Israel were at this time in a state of bond- 
age. They were not slaves iu the sense in 
which we understand that word, but, like 
the serfs of Eussia, they were compelled to 
labour a part of the time without compensa- 
tion. I believe this labour was performed 
for the State, and not for individual masters, 
as in our Southern States; nor do I believe 
that the Israelites in Egypt were ever re- 
garded as property. That they laboured for 
the State, and not for individual masters, is 
plainly intimated in Ex. i. 11, where it is 

12 



134 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

said, "They built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, 
Pithom and Raamses." 

It was policy rather than cupidity that 
led the king and people of Egypt to afflict 
this portion of their population; for they 
were there, as they have ever since been, a 
peculiar people, differing from the Egyptians 
in language, manners, customs, and religion; 
living apart, refusing to amalgamate or con- 
form, and yet growing prodigiously in num- 
bers and power. This growth alarmed the 
politicians of Egypt, and revelation has given 
us the result of their deliberations upon the 
subject: — "Come on, [said they,] let us deal 
wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it 
come to j>ass that when there falleth out any 
war they join also unto our enemies, and fight 
against us, and so get them out of the land." 
So they did evil that good might come, or 
rather they did one evil that another antici- 
pated evil might be averted. But, however 
wise such counsel might then be in the eyes 
of the statesmen of Egypt, we know from 
the history of the subsequent events that 
nothing could have been more foolish. But 
some of us counsel and act just as foolishly. 
We acquiesce in a system of wrong and op- 
pression more degrading to humanity than 






MOSES IN EXILE. 135 

Egyptian bondage, to save our national union; 
while others of us are ready to denounce and 
disfranchise the stranger that is within our 
gates, not for what he has done ; but for fear 
of what he may do. 

But let us return from this digression. At 
forty years of age it came into the heart of 
Moses to visit his oppressed brethren. Great 
thoughts dilated his heart. No doubt he 
had some vague premonitions of his high 
destiny as the deliverer of Israel, for Stephen 
plainly tells us so. Acts vii. 25. Patriotism, 
indignation, and high resolve glow^ed in his 
breast; but no doubt they were mingled with 
baser passions and motives. His first act 
was one of indiscreet vengeance. The next, 
although right in itself and performed with 
dignity, resulted in a way so mortifying to 
himself that his ambition was checked and 
his fears aroused. He saw that neither he 
nor they were yet ready. Having incurred 
the wrath of Pharaoh by slaying the Egyp- 
tian, and his authority being repudiated by 
his brethren, he had no recourse but flight. 

We next find him, a poor, weary, dejected 
fugitive, sitting by a well in the land of 
Midian. Thus was Moses led by his all-wise 
Teacher from the schools of Egypt to a 



136 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

higher school, in which he was kept another 
forty years. Here it was that he was chas- 
tened and disciplined and made meet for the 
Master's use. Oh, how would that mighty 
and cultivated intellect work during that 
long period of comparative solitude, guided 
and illumined by the Holy Spirit! This was 
his Valley of Humiliation. Here he learned 
of Him who was meek and lowly in heart, 
and became transformed from the fierce and 
impetuous hero we found him when he slew 
the Egyptian, to the meekest of men. Here, 
being poor, he filled the place at once of a 
son and a servant to his father-in-law, and 
kept his flock. Here he sustained the tender 
relations and discharged the duties of a hus- 
band and father; and here, doubtless, he 
penned those historical and poetical books 
and psalms which treat of events in which 
he was not an actor, and of grand truths 
which are eternal and unchangeable in their 
nature. 

The pen of inspiration is almost silent re- 
specting the personal history of Moses during 
this long period. We have a glimpse of him 
as he enters into his state of exile, and is in- 
troduced into the family of Jethro, at the 
age of forty years, and then the curtain 



MOSES IN EXILE. 137 

drops upon him until at the age of fourscore 
he is summoned to hold converse with Jeho- 
vah at the burning bush. We might indulge 
in any amount of fancy respecting both the 
inner and the outer life of this wonderful man 
during that long period; but to do so would 
be neither right nor profitable. That it was to 
him a school of discipline we know. That it 
was full of fiery trials we may safely infer 
from its effects; for we see him rash and im- 
petuous when he entered it, meek and lowly 
in heart when he again appears. That it 
was a period of sorrow we may gather from 
the 90th Psalm, where faith struggles with 
despondency and the drooping soul labours 
to strengthen itself in God by fervent prayer. 
He had formerly hoped that it had been he 
who should redeem Israel from bondage; but 
they were still groaning, and he was fast ap- 
proaching that age when the strength of man 
is but labour and sorrow. "Return !" he ex- 
claims, in the agony of prayer, "O Lord, how 
long? and let it repent thee concerning thy 
servants. Oh, satisfy us early with thy mercy, 
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 
Make us glad according to the days wherein 
thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein 
we have seen evil. Let thy work appear 



138 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their 
children; and let the beauty of the Lord our 
God be upon us, and establish thou the work 
of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our 
hands, establish thou it." Thus did the fer- 
vent heart of the saint, the brother, and the 
patriot plead with God, and in due time the 
prayer was abundantly and gloriously an- 
swered. At the period of life when other 
men are borne down with the labour and sor- 
row incident to old age, his youth w T as re- 
newed like the eagle's, and he became the 
deliverer, leader, and lawgiver of his people, 
and for another forty years he performed a 
part higher and more august than was ever 
before or since given to mortal man. 



tfftaratcr at Snlonum. 

"Come near to me ; I pray you," said Jo- 
seph to his awe-stricken brethren, just after 
he had told them who he was. "Handle me 
and see," said Jesus, after his resurrection, 
to his still more awe-stricken disciples, whose 
superstitious fears suggested the idea of a 



CHARACTER OF SOLOMON. 139 

spirit, a ghost, an apparition. It is the law 
of our being that whatsoever we would un- 
derstand clearly we must examine closely, 
even familiarly; and that whatever we keep 
at a distance is invested with a greater or 
less degree of vagueness and mystery. And 
before we can love any object we must first 
become intimate with it; we must come near 
to it, and, if it may be so, handle it. 

Well, if we may become familiar even with 
God himself, — if the disciples might even 
handle their risen Lord, — surely we may 
examine closely the great men whose living 
portraits are embodied in the word of God. 
They are there for that purpose. They are 
mirrors in which we may see ourselves ; and 
their experience ought to be our guide. It 
is a great and hurtful mistake to suppose 
that Abraham, and Jacob, and Joseph, and 
Moses, and Samuel, and David, and the pro- 
phets, were invested with sanctity unattain- 
able in the present day. It is far better to 
regard them as our fellow-servants, more 
highly favoured than ourselves in some re- 
spects, and less so in others. It is the vague 
and erroneous notion of the unapproachable 
greatness and holiness of these Bible worthies 
that keeps the great body of God's modern 



140 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

people so unfamiliar with them, and chills 
that brotherly affection that ought to be felt 
for them. We hold them near enough to be 
admired, but too far off to be loved. 

These general remarks are intended to be 
applicable to all the great and good characters 
set forth in the inspired volume; but there 
is one whose magnificent portrait flits before 
us in a gorgeous but ever-varying panorama, 
— sometimes enshrined at once in earthly 
glory and in the beauty of holiness, and 
again we see him marred and battered, and 
driven before a whirlwind of temptation, 
but still great, — "wandering, but not lost/' 

The first notable incident that we read of 
Solomon, after he ascended the throne of his 
father David, is his humble prayer for wis- 
dom. The prayer itself is evidence of wisdom 
far bej'ond that of ordinary men. The root 
of the matter was in him, and from that 
sprung his extraordinary clearness and quick- 
ness of perception of all manner of truths. 
Very soon afterwards, in the strange dispute 
between the two mothers, this wisdom, or, 
rather, this sagacity, was practically dis- 
played in the judgment which he gave. The 
assertions of one woman were pointedly con- 
tradicted by those of the other. No other 



CHARACTER OF SOLOMON. 141 

human being witnessed the transaction : so no 
witness could be called to settle the dispute. 
The king saw and acknowledged the utter 
impossibility of deciding the case by any 
ordinary procedure of law and evidence : so 
he instantly determined, by a test of terrible 
severity, to appeal for the truth to the irre- 
pressible fountain of maternal love. "Bring 
me a sword/' said the royal judge. "Divide 
the living child in two, and give half to the 
one and half to the other." This was too 
much for the real mother, as Solomon knew 
that it would be. " O my lord, give her the 
living child, and in no wise slay it," said she; 
but the other coldly and unfeelingly agreed 
to the proposal. The case was now clear 
enough, and the living child was restored to 
its true mother. 

In this incident we have an example of 
the quick, penetrating, far-reaching mind of 
Solomon, and of the almost unerring sagacity 
with which he could find and apply means 
to accomplish his ends. This affair not only 
proved that he had a deep insight into the 
human heart, but it also shows that he had 
extraordinary inventive genius. Any man 
could understand that both these women 
knew the truth, and that one of them told 



142 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

the truth; but the king silenced both the 
disputants, and made Nature — which cannot 
lie — speak. Doubtless this was the kind of 
wisdom for which Solomon prayed; and, in 
view of the responsibilities of the high office 
he was about to fill, nothing could be more 
valuable or desirable. 

To a quick, penetrating judgment Solomon 
added a searching scrutiny into the nature 
of all things, both moral and physical, that 
could be known. As a moralist, we have in 
the Book of Proverbs a world of practical 
wisdom. As a naturalist, it is said that he 
studied the nature of every thing, from the 
cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that 
springeth out of the wall. As a king or 
magistrate he surpassed all other men, so 
that the fame of the wisdom of his adminis- 
tration spread over the then known world, 
and the rulers of all nations sought his friend- 
ship and counsel. 

But to this wonderful mental endowment 
it pleased God to add other gifts almost 
beyond measure, — wealth, prosperity, honour, 
influence. In his person and in his outward 
estate, therefore, Solomon had all that the 
largest ambition could desire of earthly good; 
and as it was given to Job to prove experi- 



CHARACTER OF SOLOMON. 143 

mentally the last degree of earthly adversity, 
so was it given to Solomon to exhibit to us 
a living example of the opposite condition. 
It is in this point of view that the study of 
his life becomes instructive and profitable. 
He was not satisfied with the mere abstract 
knowledge of any thing. He must have ex- 
perience : so he appears to have tested the 
value of every thing by actual trial. Hence 
he says, "Lo, I am come to great estate, and 
have gotten more wisdom than all they that 
have been before me in Jerusalem ; yea, my 
heart had great experience of wisdom and 
knowledge ; and I gave my heart to know wis- 
dom, and to know madness and folly." And 
again : " I sought in mine heart to give myself 
unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with 
wisdom ; and to lay hold on folly, till I might 
see what was that good for the sons of men, 
which they should do under the heaven all 
the days of their life." Strange and perilous 
experiment ! Plunge into folly, and even 
inebriation, so that by the experimental test 
he might know their value, and thus become 
more wise and be enabled to "see what was 
good for the sons of men." Of intoxicating 
drink he has given a faithful and solemn re- 
port in Prov. xxiii. "Who hath woe ? Who 



144 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

hath sorrow? Who hath contentions ? Who 
hath babbling? Who hath wounds without 
cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They 
that tarry long at the wine; they that go to 
seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the 
wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour 
in the cuj), when it moveth itself aright. 
At last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth 
like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold 
strange women, and thine heart shall utter 
perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he 
that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or 
as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and 
I was not sick ; they have beaten me, and I 
felt it not. When shall I awake? I will 
seek it yet again." Who but an experienced 
inebriate could give so vivid a picture of the 
wine itself, of the revolting concomitants 
of drunkenness, of the confusion of brain and 
the irregular passions which follow, and of 
the incoherent and passionate expressions 
of returning reason under the lash of an out- 
raged conscience ? Thus did Solomon give 
himself unto wine that he might acquaint 
his heart with wisdom. We may not say 
that he did well in so doing ; but we may say 
that it was well for "the sons of men" that 



CHARACTER OF SOLOMON. 145 

he did. If we may not thank Solomon for 
the solemn lesson, we may thank G-od. 

Elegant and gorgeous voluptuousness was 
indulged in by this extraordinary man to an 
extent beyond the power of any to rival; 
and in this lay his most dangerous snare, his 
greatest error, his darkest sin; and this, 
more than any thing else, casts a deep and 
lasting stain upon his character. Strong as 
he was, he did not come out of that fire un- 
injured ; for, like Samson in the lap of Delilah, 
he was shorn of his glory and strength ; and 
when he tried to shake himself he found that 
he had become weak and like any other man. 
His alliance with idolatrous women led him 
to patronize and even to practise idolatry; 
and thus he became a snare to his own people, 
and greatly offended the God of his fathers. 
To him wine, and music, and every other 
species of pleasure, were like the cords on 
the arms of the strong man. He broke them 
as though they had been threads touched by 
fire; but the ensnaring influence of women 
was too strong even for him. Proverbs v., 
vi., vii. 

Solomon took great delight in making im- 
provements of every kind. Of these he tells 
us in the second chapter of Ecclesiastes; and 

13 



146 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

having fine taste and skill, together with al- 
most unlimited wealth, no man can ever hope 
to rival him in this department of laudable 
and enlightened pleasure. He says, "I was 
great, and increased more than all that were 
before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom 
remained with me. And whatsoever mine 
eyes desired I kept not from them j I with- 
held not my heart from any joy; for my 
heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was 
my portion of all my labour." For seven 
years Solomon was employed, with all his 
power and skill and forces, in building the 
Temple; but, that done, he seems to have 
turned his attention to other works. He 
built Tadmor in the desert, — believed to be 
the same that was afterwards called Palmyra, 
the splendid ruins of which are the admira- 
tion of travellers to this day; and the pools 
of Avater of which he speaks are yet existing 
in good preservation a few miles from Jeru- 
salem. 

And what was the result of all that power, 
and wealth, and well-directed industry ? Let 
Solomon himself answer. "Then I looked 
on all the works that my hands had wrought, 
and on the labour that I had laboured to do; 
and behold ; all was vanity and vexation of 



CHARACTER OF SOLOMON. 147 

spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." 
What a report from a man who had all that 
heart could wish of this world's honour, 
power, wealth, and pleasure ! These are not 
the words of some sour ascetic, scowling from 
his narrow cell upon a busy, bustling world, 
but of a man who had drank freely from 
every fountain of earthly joy, — a man who 
sought - pleasure and enjoyment with all his 
heart, and found them in measure far beyond 
what any other man need hope for. They 
are the words of an honest, earnest, and wise 
man, — a man guided in all his researches 
after experimental wisdom by the Spirit of 
God. He, doubtless, often forgot, in the im- 
petuous pursuit of ambition and pleasure, the 
object of his perilous wanderings; but his 
Guide did not. The rein was freely given to 
his giant propensities, — his thirst for know- 
ledge, his kingly ambition, his fine tastes, 
his love of pleasure, and even the indulgence 
of his sensual appetites. They led him to 
the achievement of all that could be done or 
enjoyed by man; and what did it profit? 
What did it amount to? "Vanity and vexa- 
tion of spirit/' and "no profit." And yet 
these are the things for which men are 



148 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

-starving their souls, and even bartering their 
salvation. 

If we would understand the character of 
Solomon aright, we must regard him as an 
•explorer, a discoverer, in the great moral 
world extending from the portals of heaven 
to the purlieus of the bottomless pit; for he 
says himself, "I gave myself to know wis- 
dom and to know madness and folly," — not 
merely to know these things abstractly, but 
experimentally. God in his providence fur- 
nished him with the means, and gave him 
strength sufficient for the fearful tour, and 
finally brought him back an humbler, a wiser, 
and a better man, and has given to us, in the 
sententious language of his erratic servant, 
the rich stores of wisdom which he brought 
back when he returned from his wanderings. 

Solomon's mission was to shed light upon 
this world, its interests, its profits, and its 
pleasures, and to show ns what is valuable 
and worth seeking, and what is vain, decep- 
tive, and unworthy of pursuit, and thus lead 
our feet into the paths of true wisdom. The 
Book of Proverbs is an exhaustless treasury 
of practical wisdom ; the Book of Ecclesiastes 
is a continuation of the same sententious 
expositions of the truth, blended with the 



CHARACTER OF SOLOMON. 149 

result of the strange and varied personal 
experience of the author. Oh, how earnestly 
he labours to convince "the sons of men," for 
whose good he tried every thing and trod 
paths of sin and folly from which any other 
man would have been swept to perdition, of 
the emptiness, worthlessness, and vanity of 
the things which the great majority of men 
esteem so highly and pursue so eagerly. 
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, 
vanity of vanities; all is vanity." 

How solemn and impressive is his conclu- 
sion, the sum total of all his wisdom and 
experience ! " Let us hear [says he] the con- 
clusion of the whole matter : Fear God and 
keep his commandments ; for this is the 

whole of man." In our version the last 

clause reads, the " whole duty of man ;" but 
the word is supplied, and weakens the force 
of the sentence. It is elliptical, and admits 
of being filled up with many words. It may 
stand as it is, " the whole duty of man f 
or we may paraphrase it in the words of the 
Catechism, "the chief end of man;" but, to 
maintain the full energy of Solomon's words, 
we must say "the sole end of man." Or we 
may paraphrase it again, and say, "the only 
true interest or good of man." Like Paul, 
13* 



150 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Solomon appears to have cast every thing 
out of his heart but the fear of God and the 
spirit of obedience. In him sin abounded, it 
is true; but we have good reason to believe 
that grace still more abounded. The very 
fact that he found the joys of life unsatisfy- 
ing, that he did not set his heart upon riches, 
and that he found nothing but vanity and 
vexation of spirit in his most splendid 
achievements, is proof enough that he never 
lost his relish for the Chief Good, and that he 
returned from his wanderings like Noah's 
dove, and found rest in the Ark, — " the bosom 
of his Father and his God." 



"Doth Job fear God for nought?" was the 
language of Satan, when he would bring an 
accusation against the most upright man of 
his age. Satan could find no flaw in the 
service which Job rendered to God; but he 
attacked the motive. "Hast not thou made 
an hedge about him/' he asks, "and about 
his house, and about all that he hath on every 



ELISHA, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZI. 151 

side? Thou hast blessed the work of his 
hands, and his substance is increased on 
every side. But put forth thine hand now, 
and touch all that he hath, and he will curse 
thee to thy face." It pleased God to put Job ' 
to the test; and the result showed that the 
devil's supposition was as false as it was 
mean. Job's piety arose from true love to 
God, and not from love of the world. 

Job stands as a representative of a nume- 
rous class ; for the number of the truly pious 
is large. Satan, on the other hand, is the 
representative of another large class, com- 
posed of persons who, unable to conceive of 
motives of action higher than those which 
arise from mercenary or selfish interests and 
instincts, are continually accusing those of 
the other class as Satan charged Job. It is 
one of the meanest manifestations of the 
satanic spirit; and, alas! it is one of the 
most common as well as one of the most 
pernicious. Let this vile thought once get 
a firm lodgment in the heart of a sinner, and 
it forms a shield which the arrows of con- 
viction cannot penetrate. Under this strong 
delusion the Church of Christ is regarded as 
a community of hypocrites, and the sacred 



152 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

office itself as only an easy way of making a 
living. 

No general slander can long exist without 
some real, substantial aliment. That there 
were some in the days of Job and before him 
who did not serve God for nought, we may 
safely infer from the fact that Satan sup- 
posed, or pretended to suppose, that Job was 
of the number. "Very likely he thought so, 
for Satan is not omniscient; and, like many 
of his followers, he is fond of drawing very 
broad conclusions from very narrow premises. 
So the devil caught the idea that Job was a 
hypocrite from having met with some such 
characters before, just as some people now-a- 
days generalize after the same fashion, after 
having discovered one or more spurious pro- 
fessors of religion, or imagined that they have 
done so. 

It is a small matter to the true Christian 
to be accused as Job was. It may grieve the 
heart, and it may damage his influence a 
little; but that is all. God in due time will 
"bring forth his righteousness as the light 
and his judgment as the noonday," as he did 
Job's. But it is a sad, sad thing to the un- 
happy being who entertains and cherishes 
the thought; for while it lodges in his heart 



ELISHA-, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZI. 153 

he is repelled by it from the only ark of 
safety. And how came he by it? He saw 
that some one or more in the range of his 
observation were of such a character that it 
was impossible to give them credit for sin- 
cerity in their religious profession ; and so, 
generalizing, as before intimated, he comes 
to the same conclusion that Satan came to 
in the case of Job. Upon such a man the 
preaching of the gospel is not likely to exert 
much influence; for although the words of the 
preacher may not be gainsaid, and con- 
science may plead with the half-alarmed 
heart that what he says is true, yet the 
miserable thought — whether expressed or 
not — "it is his trade to talk so," utterly 
effaces every salutary impression. How fear- 
ful a responsibility, therefore, rests upon pro- 
fessors of religion as to the manner in which 
they act before the world ! for by the exhi- 
bition of a worldly spirit or of unholy pas- 
sions one man may be the means of lodging 
this deadly impression in many a heart. 

How very careful the apostles were to 
avoid even the appearance of this evil ! Like 
their divine Master, they chose a condition 
of utter poverty, and trusted to Him in whose 
hands are all hearts to supply their daily 



154 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

wants, — not by miracle, but by the free-will 
offerings of his people. Even Satan himself 
could not have had the face to charge them 
with mercenary motives. 

God's book is like himself, past finding out 
to perfection, — inexhaustible. The words of 
other books are employed to express one idea 
only at a time; but the words of this book 
are living words, possessing creative energy. 
One idea being expressed as no other words 
can express it, look at the sentence or the 
narrative again, and behold another and an- 
other, more and more precious and spiritual. 
A sublimely-instructive allegory glows upon 
the face of the simplest historic narrative; 
and where the superficial reader sees only 
the character of an ancient saint or sinner, 
the thoughtful student finds in it a key to 
unlock the strange mysteries of his own 
heart. Individuals in the Bible are repre- 
sentatives of classes to be found living and 
acting in all ages. And not only are they the 
representatives of classes, but personifications 
of the various phases and shades of character 
found in all nations and all ages. Let the 
careful Bible-student take, for example, the 
twelve disciples of Jesus, and he will find 



ELISHA, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZT. 155 

that each had a peculiar idiosyncrasy which 
distinguished him from all the others, and 
that among them are to be found all the 
peculiarities of character to be found among 
all the Christians that have ever lived. 

We say nothing in this connection about 
Adam being the representative of his pos- 
terity, nor of Abraham being the father of 
the faithful, nor of many Old-Testament 
saints being types of Christ; but, with the 
foregoing observations, we proceed to speak 
more particularly of three remarkable cha- 
racters, one of whom allegorically personifies 
the gospel; the second the world lying in 
wickedness; and the third that monstrous 
system of corruption which has converted the 
house of God into a den of thieves. 

The prophet Elisha was living in poverty 
and neglect, but still active and zealous, in 
Jericho. Every opportunity to do good and 
to impart instruction was joyfully improved 
by him. Like Him of whom he was a type, 
it was his meat and drink to do the will of 
Him w T ho sent him. It was at this time that 
Naaman the Syrian was informed by a captive 
Israelitish maid that there was a prophet in 
Israel who could recover him of the deadly 
plague of leprosy under which he was sinking 



156 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

to a loathsome and horrible death. ]S~aaman 
came, as the world always comes, with pomp 
and parade, and with his hands filled with 
costly gifts. He first applied to the King of 
Israel; but he could do nothing. " Let him 
come to me," said the prophet : so the afflicted 
but proud Syrian sought the humble dwelling 
of the prophet, and acted as if he intended 
rather to order and pay for his miraculous 
services than to solicit them as an humble 
suppliant. The prophet sent a message to 
him directing him what to do, — simply to 
wash in Jordan, — but deigned not, in his 
present state of feeling, to show him the light 
of his countenance. How similar is this to 
the dealings of the Saviour with the alarmed 
but unsubdued sinner ! 

The whole proceeding is distasteful to the 
proud heart of the Syrian general. The 
prophet disregards his rank and dignity, and 
the means prescribed are altogether too 
simple, and therefore too humiliating. ISTaa- 
man had made up his mind that either he or 
the prophet, or both, must do some great 
thing; but in this he only acted as the whole 
world has acted since the creation. The 
apostle says the preaching of Christ is to the 
Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks 



ELISHA, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZI. 157 

foolishness : so Elisha's washing in Jordan 
was to Naaman foolishness, and likely to 
have proved a stumbling-block over which he 
had stumbled into a wretched eternity. Fi- 
nally, however, through the persuasion of his 
servants, and from a sense of his hopeless 
condition, his proud heart gave way, and, 
like an humble seeker of salvation, he went 
down alone into Jordan, and there found, to 
his great joy, that God did indeed do a great 
thing for him. One minute ago he was an 
ulcerous leper, loathsome even to himself; 
now he is whole, strong, pure, and beautiful, 
clothed with the fair flesh of a little child, 
and, better still, with the spirit of a little 
child. Behold here the type of a new creature 
in Christ Jesus. Then look again, and you 
will see a type of the primitive Church. 

Naaman acknowledges and blesses the God 
of Israel, and in the fulness of his heart- 
desires to make the prophet rich, by bestow- 
ing upon him a large sum of money and other 
costly gifts. If ever a man might have pro- 
perly received a present from another, this 
seemed to be the occasion. The work was 
done. The gift of Naaman was not at all in 
the nature of a quid pro quo, but purely an 
offering of gratitude. And then Elisha had 

14 



158 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

at this time under his care and tuition more 
than a hundred young men, sons of the 
prophets, to whom this money would have 
been, according to modern ideas, a most 
happy relief; for they were very poor, as we 
learn from the affair of the "death in the 
pot," and from the distress which one of them 
evinced at having dropped a borrowed axe 
into water so deep that he could not reach it, 
and to recover which Elisha worked a miracle 
by causing it to swim. For these and many 
other reasons we should suppose that the 
prophet might very properly have taken the 
money; but Infinite Wisdom forbade; and 
that was enough for him, and it is enough 
for us. 

Thus far the narrative is delightful to con- 
template. Naaman is not only healed, but 
he seems to have become a simple-hearted, 
humble, and grateful believer, — a sinner 
saved by grace; for, with all his power 1 and 
wealth, he was saved, healed, and redeemed 
without money and without price. All the 
glory was God's, all the priceless benefits 
were his. How inconceivably glorious must 
the Lord God of Elisha and of Israel have 
appeared in the eyes of this newly-awakened 
heathen when he saw that his servant the 



ELISHA, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZI. 159 

prophet cared not for the wealth of this 
world, although surrounded with every aspect 
of outward poverty! So did the Church 
appear in the eyes of the heathen world in 
the days of the apostles; and hence the 
power which accompanied the preaching of 
the word. There was no attempt then to 
serve both God and mammon upon the same 
altar. 

But now the scene changes to one ex- 
tremely painful. GrEHAZi ; the servant of 
Elisha, was present at the closing interview 
between his master and the Syrian general; 
and in his eyes the refusal of his master to 
receive the proffered present was folly in the 
extreme. However superior his master might 
be to him in some things, he had no doubt of his 
own superior sagacity in respect to the affairs 
of this world and the value of money. Gehazi 
was a keen, penetrating, forward youth. 
When his master was desirous of conferring 
some favour upon the hospitable Shunam- 
mite, he was not long in suggesting what 
would likely be the most grateful benefit she 
could receive; and the prophet acted upon his 
suggestion. Puffed up with the privileges 
of his situation and the kindness and con- 
fidence of his master, doubtless he felt him- 



160 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

self to be almost if not altogether a prophet 
himself; but in his own eyes shrewder and 
wiser than Elisha, for he exclaims to himself, 
" Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this 
Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that 
which he brought; but, as the Lord liveth, I 
will run after him and. take somewhat of 
him." Telling Naaman a gross falsehood 
about two sons of the prophet, the latter 
gladly bestowed upon him more than he 
asked. Then, having concealed his treasure, 
he returned to his master as if nothing had. 
happened. Poor, deceived Naaman ! he gave 
it freely, gratefully, gladly. His heart was 
oppressed with the weight of the free grace 
of which he had just been the recipient. His 
pride, utterly abased, struggled with the load. 
He wanted to do something, to make some 
return; and, having given two talents of 
silver (about 3200 dollars in our money) and 
two rich changes of raiment, his reviving 
pride of heart would feel much relieved. Oh, 
how was the gracious work of God in his 
heart marred by this unhappy outbreak of 
covetousness on the part of Ge^azi ! 

We here lose sight of Xaaman. Whether 
he continued to be a true and humble worship- 
per of Israel's God in the court of a heathen 



ELISHA, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZI. 161 

prince, God only knows. One thing we know, 
that He who we trust began a good work in 
that man's heart was able to carry it on ; but, 
if the good impressions he received were ever 
effaced, the guilt lies heavily upon the soul 
of Gehazi. 

Although it has pleased God to draw a veil 
over the ultimate character and fate of Naa- 
man, we are not left in the dark respecting 
that of Gehazi. We need not rehearse the 
narrative of the final interview between 
Elisha and his servant; but the awful sen- 
tence pronounced upon the latter on that 
occasion may well cause our ears to tingle 
and our hearts to tremble, lest we fall, in a 
spiritual sense, under the same condemnation. 
" The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee 
and unto thy seed forever." 

Who does not see bodied forth, as in the 
living epistles of God, the Saviour in Elisha, 
a lost w T orld in Naaman, and a corrupt and 
mercenary Church in Gehazi ? Ages after the 
last-named individual was gathered to his 
fathers, — after the Great Archetype had ap- 
peared and toiled and suffered for the redemp- 
tion of a lost world, after thousands had 
washed in the fountain which he opened for 
sin and for uncleanness, and had become new 

14* 



162 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

creatures, as Naaman had done, — men pro- 
fessing to be the servants of the Great Pro- 
phet began to act the part of Gehazi, and 
continued to do so from little to more, from 
bad to worse, until the greed of gain and the 
device of schemes to obtain it had thrust out 
of the Church every pure and healthy ele- 
ment and converted it into a curse rather 
than a blessing to the world. Purgatory, 
Auricular Confession, Masses, Indulgences, 
and many other such inventions, attest the 
ingenuity with which devices were framed to 
extort money from a world suffering under 
the leprosy of sin. Gehazi put in a false but 
plausible plea, and he put it forth in the nalne 
of his master: so does the Church of Eome. 
Naaman was deceived by Gehazi : so in like 
manner the nations of the earth have been 
for ages deceived by that Church. Gehazi 
got Naaman's money, as Eome has got the 
world's money : but Gehazi inherited with it 
Kaaman's leprosy; and what has Eome in- 
herited? 

But let us tread softly. Eome stands before 
us as the woman taken in adultery stood 
before the Jews of old. We know that she is 
guiltj^, for she has been taken in the very act. 
But are we in a condition to cast a stone at 



ELISHA, NAAMAN, AND GEHAZI. 163 

her? Are we Protestants entirely clear of the 
sin of Gehazi ? Is he not in some sense our 
representative too, and does not some trace 
of the leprosy of Naaman for this cause cleave 
unto us ? 

Naarnan came prepared to pay for his cure. 
He expected — nay, desired — to do so. The 
prophet had severely denied himself in order 
to give him a practical and striking proof that 
salvation and the blessing of God are not to 
be purchased with money; that all who come 
to Him must come as beggars, however rich 
they may be in this world's goods. Now, 
they know very little of the human heart 
who cannot understand that Naaman's sense 
of obligation would be greatly abated and his 
self-complacency very materially restored 
after his interview with Gehazi. As we are 
all men of like passions with Naaman, we are 
liable to be similarly affected when we reflect 
upon our own bounty contributed to the 
" support of the gospel." God wanted Naa- 
man's heart, not his money; but Gehazi, 
acting upon the promptings of worldly 
wisdom, wanted his money; and it may be 
that in taking it he robbed the Saviour of 
Naaman's heart and of the glory of his sal- 
vation. 



164 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 



fit $ot at mi 



The Scriptures represent the goodness of 
God as an inexhaustible fountain, a boundless 
fulness incapable of exhaustion or even of 
diminution. "Out of his fulness have all we 
received." 

Where, then, are we straitened ? Certainly 
not in the fountain or well at which we draw, 
seeing that it is infinite in its fulness; but in 
ourselves, in our faith, in our expectations. 
Our faith or expectation may be justly com- 
pared to a vessel which we bring to a foun- 
tain. If it be very small, we can only carry 
away with us a very small supply. No matter 
how abundant the water in the well may be, 
it cannot do more than fill our vessel. 

The centurion who applied to the Saviour 
to heal his servant came with almost un- 
bounded faith and expectation. "Speak the 
word, and my servant shall live I" he ex- 
claimed ; and his draft, large as it was, was 
munificently honoured, — his vessel was filled 



THE POT OF OIL. 165 

to the brim. Jesus himself marvelled at 
him, and, turning to those about him, de- 
clared that he had not found so great faith, 
no, not in Israel. He then responded to the 
anxious applicant, "As thou hast believed, so be 
it done unto thee." He had come with large 
expectations, but they were fully met; his 
vessel was a capacious one, but it was filled 
to overflowing. But let us ever bear in mind 
that what Jesus said to the centurion he 
says to all. That scripture is of no private 
interpretation. 

A striking instance of this rule of adminis- 
tration in the kingdom of grace is afforded 
in the case of the widow's pot of oil, as related 
in the first seven verses of the 2d chapter of 
2d Kings. 

The husband and father, who had been a 
good man, — one who feared the Lord and 
was enrolled among the sons of the prophets, 
— died. He died poor; but, worse than that, 
he died in debt. His estate Consisted of two 
sons, and nothing more, so far as the history 
informs us. But "two sons" would be a 
strange entry among a deceased man's assets 
in our day : so it requires a moment's glance 
at the law of Moses and the practice in Israel. 
See Exodus xxi. 2 for the law, and Nehemiah 



166 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

v. 1-13 for the practice. Under the first, 
perhaps, a man's children might be sold to 
serve seven years in payment of a debt due 
by him in his lifetime; but under the second 
such a thing would have met with a most 
emphatic condemnation. 

But at the time this poor woman lived in 
Israel, Baal was more worshipped than the 
God of Israel ; and it is not likely that the 
merciful limitations and mitigations of servi- 
tude laid down in the divine law were very 
strictly observed. Be this as it may, the 
creditor seized, or was about to seize, the 
two sons of this afflicted woman, in order to 
sell them into slavery or servitude, or to keep 
them as bondmen, in satisfaction of the debt. 
It was very hard; but, as the creditor had law 
on his side, doubtless he thought it right and 
perfectly fair. The anguish and tears of the 
widow and fatherless were nothing to him: 
all he wanted was his "legal right." 

What could she do ? She had no means of 
paying the debt, nor friends able to pay it 
for her. In her deep distress she doubtless 
prayed earnestly to her own and her hus- 
band's God, and he heard her and directed 
her what to do. She applied to Elisha. After 
hearing her complaint, he inquired of her 



THE POT OF OIL. 167 

what she had in the house. " Thine hand- 
maid hath not any thing in the house save a 
pot of oil," she replied. "Go," said the pro- 
phet, "borrow vessels abroad of all thy neigh- 
bours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 
And when thou art come in thou shalt shut 
the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and 
shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou 
shalt set aside that which is full." 

What a strange command ! Here was 
exercise for faith. What ! fill large vessels 
out of that little pot? Even so; for the pro- 
phet of the Lord G-od of Israel had said it. 
"Borrow not a few" would ring in her ears 
and help her to enlarge her expectations. 
She is about to draw from an exhaustless 
fountain, and the only limit to her supply is 
her own faith or her ability to procure vessels. 

She has ceased to collect vessels : she has 
either got all that she could procure, or as 
many as she could hope to fill, we do not 
know which. She has shut the door, and 
the wondrous work begins. With a hand 
trembling with emotion, she grasps the little 
pot of oil and pours out. The oil flows in a 
strong and unabating stream, and vessel after 
vessel is filled and set aside. In strong faith 
and joyful exultation she proceeds with her 



168 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

miraculous work, and "Bring me yet a 
vessel" breaks with stronger and stronger 
emphasis from her lips. At length her son 
replies, to her oft-repeated command, " There 
is not a vessel more." Then, and not till 
then, the oil stayed. She sold her oil, paid 
the debt, saved her children from bondage, 
and had a surplus left for her ordinary sup- 
port. 

Here is a beautiful practical example of 
strong faith and large expectation to en- 
courage us when we come to the Fountain of 
every blessing. The widow did not collect 
too many vessels, for they were all filled; 
and had she procured ten times as many the 
result would have been the same. In prayer 
we are not straitened in God, but only in 
ourselves; and when we approach into His 
presence who "giveth liberally and up- 
braideth not," but who is pleased and 
honoured in proportion to the largeness of 
our drafts upon him, it would be well to call 
to mind the abrupt and emphatic command 
of the prophet, "Borrow empty vessels; 
borrow not a few." 



ague's prayer. 169 



fpr'g $rapr. 

The 30th and 31st chapters of Proverbs 
are an appendix to the book, and were pro- 
bably written between the death of Solo- 
mon and the reign of Hezekiah. The one is 
composed of "the words of Agur, the son of 
Jakeh;" the other of "the words of King 
Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught 
him." History is silent respecting both these 
persons. Agur was probably an Israelitish 
prophet or teacher, — a head of one of the 
schools of the prophets, as he appears to have 
had at least two pupils, to whom his words 
were primarily addressed. Lemuel might 
have been some neighbouring prince, whose 
mother instructed him in the knowledge of 
the true God and in what constitutes true 
excellence. 

But our object is not to write a criticism, 
but to lead to some profitable reflection upon 
the earnestly-expressed desire or prayer of 
Agur, comprised in the 7th, 8th, and 9th 
verses of the 30th chapter. 

15 



170 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

" Two things have I required of thee : deny 
me them not before I die." The name of God 
is not mentioned in this clause ; but the pro- 
noun "thee" doubtless refers to him, for no 
other being could grant what Agur requires. 
"Deny me them not before I die." Let them 
be mine all my life. 

These two things comprehended, in general 
terms, both his spiritual and temporal condi- 
tion. Both refer to evils from which he de- 
sired to be delivered, so that he might be 
left free and unencumbered in the service of 
God and in the pursuit of his own highest good. 

u Remove far from me vanity and lies." This 
is exceedingly comprehensive, embracing er- 
roneous views of truth, false maxims, wrong 
or mistaken motives, delusive hopes, and 
misplaced confidence. It embraces also all 
inordinate affections and engrossment of soul 
in the perishing things of this world. 

" Give me neither poverty nor riches" In 
Agur's view, both poverty and riches are 
evils. They are ojjposite conditions. All 
agree that poverty, abject poverty, is an 
evil; but in their hearts almost all believe 
that the opposite condition is good. Who 
among us could enter into his closet, and, 
alone with God, pray, with all his heart, 



agur's prayer. 171 

"Give me not riches"? But Agur did so; 
and he rendered a weighty reason why he did. 

"Feed me with food convenient for me." 
Agur desired what our Lord taught us to 
pray for, — daily bread. He desired that God 
would grant him a suitable supply of the 
good things of life ; but he deprecated those 
luxuries which only gratify for the moment 
and vitiate and deprave the natural appetites 
as much as he did a lack of necessary food. 

]STow let us hear his reasons. 

"Lest. I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is 
the Lord?" Oh, what a world of meaning lies 
in these few energetic words ! Well did Agur 
know the deceitfulness of his own heart. "Well 
did he know that wealth is a dangerous snare. 
Well did he know that if he had it he would 
practically put it in the place of God. He 
would not do it professedly ; he would not 
admit even to himself that he had done so ; 
but yet he would, to a greater or less degree, 
do it. This he knew he would do, or, at 
least, he feared it. "He that trusteth in his 
own heart is a fool/' says the wise man ; but 
Agur has shown us that he was not a fool, 
for he would not trust in his own heart. He 
felt, as every true believer has felt, that the 
heart is deceitful above all things, and des- 



172 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

perately wicked: therefore he prays, "Give 
me not riches; lest I be full and deny thee, 
and say, Who is the Lord ?" Not that he 
was afraid of saying so in words. Oh, no ! 
he knew that he could be rich and still 
make a credible profession and offer up long 
prayers; but he trembled lest his heart, his 
affections, his trust, his confidence, should be 
transferred from his God to his property. 
He knew that where his treasure was, there 
his heart would be also. How did he know 
it ? The Holy Spirit taught him the same 
truths, essentially, that Jesus, long after- 
wards, taught his disciples on the Mount. 
Agur prayed, "Give me not riches." Jesus 
says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures 
upon earth." Both rendered a reason; and 
their reasons, although expressed in different 
terms, coincide in meaning. Both deprecated 
wealth, because its tendency is to alienate 
the heart from God. If this be so,; — if this 
be its general, almost universal, effect, — how 
can any one who has the love of God glowing 
in his heart desire to be rich ? No Christian 
prays to be rich, in express terms; but what 

r? 

1 Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, 
Utter'd or unexpress'd." 



agub/s prayer. 173 

Who can believe that that which absorbs 
a man's time and thoughts and calls forth 
all his energies — that for which he plans, and 
toils, and quarrels, and sometimes even goes 
to law — is not an object of sincere desire? 
Certainly it is. None can doubt his sincerity 
here. Well, this sincere, abiding desire is 
prayer. God regards it as such, and answers 
according to the rule, "Seek and ye shall 
find/' He has recorded one of those answers 
in Psalm cvi. 15 : — "He gave them their request, 
but sent leanness into their soul." What an 
awful warning is here to those who are 
seeking, and successfully seeking, the very 
thing that Jesus commands them not to seek, 
— seeking that which Agur prayed that he 
might not find ! 

" Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the 
name of my God in vain" The poverty here 
spoken of is abject poverty, where many 
good things are really lacking, — that degree 
of poverty which crushes, debases, hardens, 
and brutifies the man. This is a condition 
into which the true child of Grod cannot fall ; 
for he has said that those who trust in him 
" shall not want any good thing." It would 
be easier for heaven and earth to pass away 
than for a true believer to fall into such 
15* 



174 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

poverty. Let any one read the 37th Psalm, 
together with the numberless promises to 
the same import scattered throughout the 
entire word of God, and he must acknow- 
ledge that we are warranted in using this 
strong language. Yet this is the kind of 
poverty that many professed Christians dread ; 
and this dread corrodes the heart, and finally 
results in covetousness, worldliness, avarice, 
hardness in dealing, and sometimes in litiga- 
tion, affording occasion for the enemies of 
the Lord to blaspheme. 



"The fashion of this world passeth away," 
says the apostle. Man's works, like himself, 
are destined to sure, and often rapid, decay. 
We dwell in the midst of a revolution, — 
change succeeding change with kaleidoscopic 
swiftness. 

"My days," says Job, "are like a weaver's 
shuttle;" and James asks, "What is your 
life?" and, in answer to his own question, 
says, "It is even a vapour, which continueth 



jonah's gourd. 175 

for a little while and then vanishes away." 
And as man's days are, so are his works, 
so are his earthly possessions, and the things 
on which he has bestowed his utmost wis- 
dom, his best skill, and in which he reposes 
his greatest confidence. When compared 
with the days of eternity, what is the differ- 
ence between the Pyramids of Egypt and 
Jonah's gourd? Nor was there much dif- 
ference in the estimate put upon them by 
their several proprietors. 

The gourd perished quickly, but Jonah re- 
mains among us, a familiar personage, per- 
verse and fretful, it is true, but still a true 
prophet, one of the redeemed, and one in whose 
truly imperishable history God has traced 
many of the glorious lineaments of his own 
character, and shown us how much perverse- 
ness, selfishness, and even cruelty, may still 
lurk in the bosom of a true believer. The 
Pyramids remain; but where are their build- 
ers? Their inward thought was that their 
works should continue forever and their 
dwelling-places to all generations. They 
called their lands after their own names. 
But, although their works remain, their his- 
tory — nay, their very names — have perished. 
And although the labours of Champollion and 



176 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

others have let in a little light upon Egyptian 
and Assyrian antiquities, it is only sufficient 
to render the darkness visible, the oblivion 
more appalling. 

Joseph lived in Egypt about the time that 
the Pyramids were built, but he built no 
pyramids; he did not write his name on mar- 
ble, but God stamped upon him the seal of 
immortality by causing Moses to write a few 
words in a book. Joseph still lives in that 
inspired record. He seems to mingle with 
us at our firesides. We see the anguish of 
his soul when he pleads with his cruel 
brethren. We follow him through his try- 
ing fortunes in Potiphar's house and in the 
prison. He stands in our presence before 
Pharaoh. We feel honoured in his advance- 
ment to honour and power; and when his 
brethren come, we too, like him, feel as if we 
would fain seek a place to weep; and before 
the story is over, Joseph has ceased to be re- 
garded by us as a great man who lived and 
flourished more than three thousand years 
ago. Our hearts become knit to his heart, 
and almost unconsciously we enroll him 
among the number of our intimate and 
beloved friends. How flat, cold, perishing, 
and dead are all the records of Thebes, of 



jonah's gourd. 177 

Palmyra, of Babylon, Nineveh, and Eome, 
although laboriously sculptured in enduring 
marble, when compared with the records of 
the pen of inspiration! Those, like their 
authors, appear and are admired for a little 
while, and then vanish away; while these 
remain in imperishable lustre, ever fresh, 
ever new. 

In the short but impressive history of 
Jonah there is much that, properly con- 
sidered, comes home with power to our own 
hearts. It is a mirror in which we may see 
ourselves. His reluctance to bear the testi- 
mony which God gave him to proclaim is 
well calculated to remind us of our own back- 
wardness to rebuke, exhort, and warn those 
by whom we are surrounded, and who we 
are persuaded are yet unreconciled to God 
and exposed to his wrath. His unfortunate 
voyage to Tarsus, in direct disobedience to 
the divine command, the severity of God in 
sending a tempest to arrest his progress, and 
his wonderful deliverance from death, all 
attest the goodness of our heavenly Father 
in his dealings with his wayward and dis- 
obedient children. Happy are they whom 
the Lord chasteneth, because it is an evi- 
dence that they are the objects of his love. 



178 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Even in the belly of the fish Jonah expe- 
rienced this delightful truth; for after he had 
uttered his complaint and prayer he ex- 
claims, "1 will sacrifice unto thee with the 
voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which 
I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." 

A second time the Lord sends Jonah to 
Nineveh to denounce against it the sentence 
of destruction within forty days. This time 
Jonah went. His prophecy was uttered in a 
few ungracious words; but God accompanied 
his own word with power, and, contrary 
to Jonah's expectation or wish, the people 
humbled themselves and repented, and God 
had mercy upon them and spared them and 
their city. "But it displeased Jonah exceed- 
ingly, and he was very angry." 

In this bad temper Jonah went out of the 
city to a place where he supposed he could 
watch the event in safety, and where he could 
indulge in solitude his chagrin at the failure 
of his prophecy. But, while dwelling in his 
lonely booth, one of those hot, scorching 
winds, common in the East, prevailed, and 
distressed him greatly. To mitigate his suf- 
ferings, God caused a gourd to spring up in a 
single night : so the next day Jonah reposed 
with great comfort and delight under the 



jonah's gourd. 179 

refreshing shade of its broad leaves; "and 
Jonah was exceedingly glad of the gourd." 
He loved his gourd and set his heart upon it, 
just as we set our hearts upon objects almost 
as transient and perhaps really not so satis- 
fying. Jonah's regard for his gourd was the 
offspring of unmitigated selfishness ; so was 
his chagrin at the mercy of God in sparing 
the city. Having proclaimed that in forty 
days Nineveh should be destroyed, his credit 
as a prophet was concerned in having it come 
to pass; and, rather than that should suffer, 
he was willing to witness the death or cap- 
tivity of two hundred and fifty thousand peo- 
ple. Is there any of this bad feeling in our 
hearts when we think and talk about certain 
nations which we regard as ripe for de- 
struction ? 

But, as the people of Nineveh repented, the 
Lord permitted not the destroyer, whatever 
it might have been, to visit the city; but he 
prepared a worm to smite the gourd. It was 
not done to punish Jonah, but to teach him 
an impressive lesson : to teach him how frail 
and transient are the things of earth ; to 
show him how selfish and cruel he was, and 
how merciful and gracious God was in sparing 
Nineveh; to wean him from the perishing 



180 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

objects of earth and induce him to seek a 
better rest than he could find under the shade 
of his gourd. Are not we continually re- 
ceiving similar practical lessons at the hand 
of our heavenly Guardian and Guide ? Mercy 
spared Jonah as well as Nineveh, but smote 
the gourd of which he had made an idol. 

We, too, are often " exceeding glad" of a 
wife, or child, or house, or office, or calling, 
or some object, — an object good in itself, as 
Jonah's gourd was, but upon which we be- 
stow inordinate affection. Now, if we are so 
happy as to be of the number of those " whom 
the Lord loveth," he will be likely to send a 
worm to smite our gourd, whatever it may 
be. In no way does God more richly bless 
his people than in blasting their gourds. It 
was good in him to cause the gourd to spring 
up to shelter and comfort poor Jonah; but it 
was better, seeing that it had become a snare 
to him, to take it from him. 

But Jonah's gourd may serve as an emblem 
not only of our possessions but of ourselves. 
"We all do fade as a leaf." "Thou turnest 
man to destruction, and sayest, Eeturn, ye 
children of men." But in this he is good, 
seeing he has prepared for us a better and 
more enduring inheritance. In man, and in 



jonah's gourd. 181 

every thing pertaining to this life, our Maker 
has sown the seeds of dissolution. " Passing 
away" is inscribed upon all things with which 
we are surrounded. Man himself, the insti- 
tutions and governments of men,, all his 
earthly possessions, and the most perfect and 
stable of his works, are all like Jonah's 
gourd, — all tending to decay and death. 

"The fell disease which must subdue at length 
Grows with their growth and strengthens with their 
strength." 

"We think Jonah was a weak and foolish 
man to be so " exceeding glad of his gourd." 
But are we likely to find ourselves any wiser 
after faithfully searching our hearts? Are 
we not exceeding glad of our gourds too? 
We have many; every man has his own 
peculiar gourds; but there is one gourd of 
which we are exceeding glad as a whole 
people, and that is our structure of govern- 
ment. True, it is a good one, — the best, 
probably, that ever existed ; but as it is the 
work of man, the product of human wisdom, 
we may assuredly infer that it, like all the 
works of men, is destined to perish, to pass 
away, to wither and die, as did Jonah's 
gourd. Jonah, doubtless, took good care of 

16 



182 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

his gourd while he had it j and he did right. 
So ought we to preserve with all practicable 
care the good system of government which 
God has given us : but we may rest assured 
that if we bestow upon it any of that regard 
and trust and confidence which are due only 
to him, he will prepare a worm to smite it, 
if indeed that worm be not already gnawing 
at its heart. 



Sjiritoal Stows, 

We cannot all become rich in a worldly 
sense. Many seek to become so, but are not 
able. It is not so with regard to spiritual 
riches. Here, whosoever will may become 
rich by taking of the water of life freely. 
" Let him that hath no money come and buy 
wine and milk, without money and without 
price." 

Come where? Where is this wine and 
milk, — this water of life? Ah, we all need 
the admonition that Paul gave to the Ro- 
mans : — " Say not, Who will ascend up to heaven 
— that is to bring Christ down from above? . . . . 



SPIRITUAL STORES. 183 

but . . . the word is nigh thee, even in thy 

MOUTH AND IN THY HEART." Nothing is 

nearer, nothing more accessible, than this 
rich supply so freely offered. It is not away 
up in heaven, beyond our reach; it is not 
afar off, in some vague, dreamy region, of 
which we can form no definite conception; 
but in our hands, — in that blessed book whose 
treasures of wisdom and grace are perfectly 
inexhaustible. 

Now, if we only look at a richly-spread 
table, it will not satisfy our hunger; nor will 
the mere report of wealth make us rich : so 
the mere reading of the Scriptures will never 
satisfy our spiritual wants. We must appro- 
priate them in humble, childlike faith. The 
bare knowledge that "God so loved the world 
that he gave his only-begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth on him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life/' will do us no good 
unless we comply with the condition. The 
affecting narrative of blind Bartimeus will 
profit us nothing unless it causes us, as poor, 
blind creatures, to run to the same Saviour 
with the same cry. What benefit is it to me 
to know that Jehovah was David's Shepherd? 
but let me be able to adopt David's language, 
and then I too am placed beyond the reach 



184 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

of want, or fear, or any evil. I too may 
look forward to a comfortable life and happy 
immortality. When I read the gracious 
words, "I am the Lord thy God," and can 
feel that he is speaking to me, then I drink 
of the water of life freely. 

How rich, how blessed, is he whose memory 
is well stored with the words of eternal truth ! 
It is a treasury from which he can draw in 
every time of need. While engaged in the 
duties of his calling, they will be floating 
through his mind, exerting a sanctifying 
influence, even when he is almost uncon- 
scious of it. They will enable him to resist 
temptation, to bear up under the trials of life, 
and in his most sequestered hours they will 
be with him, as friends and companions, to 
give form and expression to his holiest 
thoughts. 

We think in language; but, unless the 
words of inspiration come to our aid, how 
cold, feeble, confused, and indefinite are our 
spiritual meditations! Well, then, if the 
words of God are not in our memories, how 
can we meditate? Nay, how can even the 
Holy Spirit operate upon our souls? The 
Saviour says, " My words, they are spirit and 
they are life." And again : " He [the Com- 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 185 

forter] will take of mine and show them unto 
you;" but where shall he get them if they are 
not read or not treasured up in the mind? 
Here, then, we are to come. Here are the 
wine and milk. Here is that which will make 
your soul delight itself in fatness. These are 
the words of God, upon which the soul feeds, 
as the body feeds upon bread. This is the 
great storehouse whence we must draw our 
supplies. It is not enough that we look in 
and admire its fulness. We must draw upon 
it for ourselves, — continually, diligently, 
eagerly. Like Bunyan's Pilgrim, we must 
carry the roll in our bosom, so as to have it 
always near, always ready. 



The devout and thoughtful student of the 
history of England, — I do not mean the his- 
tory of her diplomacy, her wars, and her 
conquests, but of her progress from the dark- 
ness of heathenism and the rudeness of bar- 
barism to her present high position in every 



186 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

thing that can exalt a nation, — while he 
traces the rise and progress of religion, the 
struggles of light with darkness, of truth 
with error, of liberty with despotism, will be 
vividly reminded of the language addressed 
by Jesus : Christ to the church at Philadelphia : 
— " I know thy works : behold, I have set 
before thee an open door, and no man can shut 
it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast 
kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 
. . . Because thou hast kept the word of my 
patience, I also will keep thee from the hour 
of temptation which shall come upon all the 
w^orld, to try them that dwell upon the 
earth." 

Before Christianity became corrupt by 
alliance with the kingdoms of this world, a 
few simple-minded disciples, principally from 
Asia Minor, carried the glad tidings of sal- 
vation through a crucified Redeemer to the 
shores of Britain. The seed fell into good 
soil, grew, and bore fruit. This was at the 
time when the island was wholly occupied by 
the Britons, except the mountainous region 
in the north and west of Scotland. Chris- 
tianity prevailed extensively among them; 
but it was a Christianity over which the 
Bishop of Rome neither sought nor claimed 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 187 

any authority; nor did it emanate from Ronie. 
Indeed, Christianity was firmly established in 
Britain long before the time of Constantine, 
the first Christian Emperor of Rome, and long 
before the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged 
as head of the universal Church. In the 
second century, Llerwig, (called by Latin 
historians Lucius,') King of the Britons, em- 
braced the gospel. The Yenerable Bede 
informs us that after the death of Llerwig, 
a.d. 181, "the Britons preserved the faith 
which they had received whole and inviolate, 
in a quiet and peaceable manner, until the 
reign of Diocletian. " In the persecutions 
under that cruel pagan emperor the Britons 
suffered in common with other Christians. 
At the Council of Mce, a.d. 325, there were 
three British pastors present. We see, there- 
fore, that Britain was ruled by a Christian 
sovereign at least one hundred and fifty years 
before the accession of Constantine, the first 
Christian emperor, to the throne of the 
Caesars. 

The Britons were not a warlike people, 
and of course they were an easy prey to the 
predatory tribes of Picts and Scots who occu- 
pied the mountainous parts of Scotland, and 
from whose incursions they suffered greatly. 



188 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

On the other hand, the Saxons, a pagan race 
who occupied the opposite coast of what is 
now the German Ocean, were trained to war 
and conquest. At the entreaty of the Britons, 
Hengist and Horsa, two Saxon chieftains, who 
claimed to be descended from Woden, their 
god, with sixteen hundred followers, landed 
on the island of Thanet in 449 or 450, and 
immediately marched against the Picts and 
Scots, over whom they gained an easy victory. 
This done, they showed no disposition to quit 
Britain, but, on the contrary, began to exer- 
cise authority over the people, and were not 
long in finding cause of quarrel with them. 
Hostilities soon followed; many skirmishes 
and battles were fought; but, the Saxons 
being frequently reinforced by their country- 
men from the continent, the Britons were 
ultimately not only vanquished but partially 
exterminated, and the wretched remnant 
were obliged to flee for refuge, some to Brit- 
tany, on the northwest coast of France, and 
some to the mountains of Wales, where their 
descendants, the Welsh, have ever since re- 
mained, and are this day the only remnant 
of the aborigines of Britain. 

The fury of the Saxon conquerors was 
especially directed against the Christian in- 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 189 

habitants, churches, and institutions of 
Britain, and for a century and a half the 
worshippers of Woden triumphed over the 
disciples of Christ. Their churches were 
demolished, their worship forbidden, and 
themselves either slain, driven into exile, or 
reduced to servitude. 

But an eminent British Christian, named 
Succat, now better known as Saint Patrick, 
had, some fifty or sixty years previous to the 
landing of the Saxons, preached the gospel 
with great success among the pagan inhabit- 
ants of Ireland. • Many churches were 
founded in that island, learning flourished, 
and, while their brethren of Britain were 
suffering the fiercest persecution at the hands 
of their Saxon conquerors, the Christians of 
Ireland were enjoying a good degree of pros- 
perity and repose. A band of devoted men 
from Ireland, headed by Columbo, founded a 
college and missionary station on a small 
barren island on the western coast of Scot- 
land, called Iona. The prime object of Co- 
lumbo and his associates was the conversion 
of the Saxons to Christianity. In this they 
had some success; but, as these proud con- 
querors regarded the Britons as slaves, they 
disdained to submit to them or their disciples 



190 THOUGHTS, OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

as teachers. But while the great ones of the 
nation rejected the gospel at the lips of the 
humble followers of Jesus, the poor and the 
lowly heard them gladly. The pure word of 
God was preached; and, although the Saxons 
as a people retained their pagan character 
and adhered to their pagan rites, there were 
many who believed and embraced the truth. 
The grain of mustard-seed was planted in 
Saxon soil; and the attentive student of his- 
tory can trace its growth from generation to 
generation, amid darkness and storms and 
in spite of all the enemies which Rome either 
sent or raised up to crush it out; for there 
never was a time when the people of England 
did not resist and struggle against the power 
of Rome. 

Meeting, however, with less success among 
the Saxons than they had hoped for, they 
directed their missionary efforts elsewhere; 
and accordingly we find the missionaries of 
Iona traversing Gaul, Holland, Switzerland, 
Germany, and even Italy. He only who sees 
the end from the beginning knows what 
lasting benefits flowed from the labours of 
these humble heralds of the gospel in its 
almost primitive simplicity and purity. For 
a thousand dark and stormy years we find 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 191 

some faithful witnesses in all those countries ; 
and then came the grand harvest of the 
^Reformation. Like good plants springing 
up in the midst of thorns, the growth was 
feeble and the fruit scanty; yet, having an 
immortal and imperishable root, the truth 
then sown, both in Britain and on the conti- 
nent, survived the long dark night of the 
Middle Ages. 

These events occurred during the Hept- 
archy, while England was divided into seven 
Saxon kingdoms, — to wit: Kent, Northum- 
berland, East Anglia, Mercia, Essex, Sussex, 
and Wessex. While the independent church 
of Iona was struggling against Saxon idolatry 
in the northwest, Eome entered the country 
on the southeast, in the person of Augustine,* 
a Eoman monk. A way had been opened for 
this mission by the marriage of Ethelbert, 

* The true name of this man was Austin, although 
most historians call him Augustine. Some have erro- 
neously confounded him "with the famous theologian of 
that name, whose works hold so high a place among 
those of the "fathers," and who was, up to the time of 
his death, Bishop of Hippo. He died a.d. 430, one 
hundred and seventy years before Austin, the Roman 
monk, — or Augustine, as he is called, — landed upon the 
shores of Britain. 



192 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

King of Kent, to Bertha, only daughter of 
the King of Paris, a zealous Papist, one ready 
and eager to second the most ambitious de- 
signs of Eome. Augustine was kindly re- 
ceived by Ethelbert, and the work of con- 
version went on with unprecedented rapidity, 
Augustine having baptized as many as ten 
thousand Saxon pagans in a single day. He 
was soon created Archbishop of Canterbury, 
and, having a hierarchy of twelve bishops 
under his control, he was placed over not 
only the Saxons but the free Britons, and 
laboured assiduously to bring the entire com- 
munity under the rule of the Bishop of Eome. 
At this time a numerous Christian society 
existed at Bangor, in North Wales, which 
had never acknowledged the authority of 
Home. Dionoth, the venerable president of 
this society, when required by Augustine to 
acknowledge the authority of the Bishop of 
Eome, meekly replied, " We desire to love all 
men; and what we do for you Ave will do for 
him also whom you call Pope. But he is not 
entitled to call himself the father of fathers; 
and the only submission we can render him 
is that which we owe to every Christian." 
But love was lightly esteemed by Eome 
where submission was withheld. Subse- 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 193 

quently an assembly of British and Saxon 
bishops was held. Augustine again sum- 
moned Dionoth to acknowledge the authority 
of Eome, but all to no purpose. The Scotch 
were particularly inflexible, and carried their 
opposition so far as to refuse to eat at the 
same table with those who acknowledged the 
authority of Eome. Three times did Au- 
gustine approach them, and was as often 
repulsed; and at the last conference he closed, 
as we are told by the Yenerable Bede, by 
uttering these ominous words : — "If you will 
not receive brethren who bring you peace, 
you shall receive enemies who will bring you 
war. If you will not unite with us in show- 
ing the Saxons the way of life, you shall 
receive from them the stroke of death." 
Soon was the savage prophecy fulfilled j for 
not long afterwards thousands of unarmed 
British Christians were put to the sword by 
order of Edelfrid, King of Nor thumb erland. 
Pressed on all sides by argument, entreaty, 
and force, reduced by the sword of the Saxons 
and bewildered by the sophisms of Romish 
priests, the firmness of these early Christians 
began to give way, and finally the calm, pure 
light which for several centuries had shone 
from the rocks of Iona died out. It died out 
17 



194 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

as a separate and independent organization; 
but it never died out of the hearts of the 
Lord's " hidden ones/' even to this day. 

But the work of Augustine and his associ- 
ates in converting the Saxons was so super- 
ficial, so unreal, that thousands of them 
relapsed into their original heathenism, some 
of the kings among the rest. Northumber- 
land, which had never fully submitted to 
Eome, became thoroughly heathen during 
the reign of Edelfrid; and he it was who 
cruelly murdered the unarmed British Chris- 
tians. Oswald, his son, spent his youth in 
Scotland, where he embraced the doctrines 
of Iona, and after the death of his father he 
conceived the idea of leading his subjects to 
Jesus Christ. After putting himself in pos- 
session of the throne, he accompanied Aidan, 
a meek and devoted missionary from Iona, 
and interpreted his gentle discourses to the 
people. Through his instrumentality, much 
good seed was sown in the Saxon mind before 
the priests of Eome had access to them at all. 
This good prince died fighting against Penda, 
King of Mercia.* 

The death of Oswald, however, did not in- 

* D'Aubigne's Hist. Ref. vol. 5. 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 195 

terrupt the labours of the missionaries. They 
laboured on, and that important division of 
England was in a good degree converted to 
Christ before the missionaries of Eome had 
entered the field. And. although these Chris- 
tians ultimately acknowledged the authority 
of the Pope, they never wholly lost the 
precious truths thus early sown in their 
minds. Oswald died on the 5th of August, 642. 

In the year 827, the Heptarchy, which had 
continued almost four hundred years, came 
to an end by the fusion of the seven kingdoms 
into one under Egbert, King of Wessex. This 
consolidation of power gave Eome great ad- 
vantages over the independent churches of 
Northumberland and elsewhere, and for 
several centuries there was no open or organ- 
ized resistance made against the authority 
of the Pope, although at no time did the 
people of England cease in their resistance to 
the encroachments of the priesthood. 

Alfred the Great ascended the throne in 
871. During the first twenty years of his 
reign he was engaged in a desperate struggle 
with numerous hordes of piratical Danes, 
who from time to time landed on the shores 
of England and almost ruined the country 
with their pillage and wanton devastation. 



196 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

Alfred finally succeeded in conquering them ; 
and, that done, he directed his fine genius to 
the promotion of learning, the encouragement 
of the useful arts, and the formation of legal 
and municipal institutions. In the settlement 
of the more important cases between parties, 
the method of decision is worthy of special 
notice. Twelve freeholders were chosen, who, 
having sworn, together with the presiding 
magistrate, to administer impartial justice, 
proceeded to the examination of the cause 
submitted to their jurisdiction. Here we see 
the origin of the Trial by Jury, that great 
palladium of the rights of freemen. He 
divided the kingdom into counties, and 
established courts of justice in each. He 
formed a body of written laws, which is 
justly deemed the basis of English jurispru- 
dence, and the origin of what is denominated 
the Common Law. 

So deplorable was the state of learning at 
that day that Alfred was unable to find a 
single person south of the Thames, either 
clerical or lay, who was able to translate the 
Latin church-service. But he founded schools 
and colleges, and before the close of his reign 
great improvements in learning had taken 
place. At that day, and for nearly a century 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 197 

afterwards, the ecclesiastics were for the most 
part, although blind leaders of the blind, 
harmless beings. They married and lived in 
general society, as Protestant clergymen do 
at present; and, although monasteries were 
numerous, the monks were not, as at present, 
isolated from the society of their fellow-men, 
but married, reared families, and generally 
pursued some honest calling for a livelihood. 
Nothing was known then of the celibacy of 
the clergy, nothing of purgatory or auricular 
confession, nothing even of transubstantiation 
as a distinct dogma. Christianity, it is true, 
had degenerated into a mere system of rites 
and ceremonies, and the liberty wherewith 
Christ makes his people free had to a great 
degree been laid at the feet of the Bishop of 
Eome. The doctrine of justification by faith 
was obscured and wellnigh lost, and the 
rosary and the liturgy had supplanted the 
word of God. Still, even then there were 
many who clung to the apostles' doctrine as 
it had been taught in Iona, and who shone as 
lights in the world. Alfred himself, although 
he never protested, was in every essential 
attribute of his character a Protestant. Eome 
did not pretend to control his administration, 
and he made no war on Eome. He was 
17* 



198 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

anxious to give his subjects the Holy Scrip- 
tures in their own language; and, conscious 
of being the best scholar of his day, he under- 
took the great task himself, and died while 
translating the Psalms of David. 

Although we may class Alfred among 
Catholics, as Catholicism existed in those 
days, yet God seems to have raised him up 
and endowed him with extraordinary talents 
and virtues, that he might embody in organic 
and practical form those imperishable prin- 
ciples of administration and jurisprudence 
which have ever been the bulwark of English 
liberty, and by means of which the people of 
that country have been able at all times to pre- 
serve some degree of personal independence. 
These were the weapons with which they 
resisted the encroachments of the Eoman 
hierarchy, and to the triumph of which is to 
be attributed the freedom of the Anglo-Saxon 
branch of the human family; while for want 
of them Spain, Portugal, Italy, and even 
France, have sunk into helpless and unre- 
sisting slavery to the tyranny of Eome. 

Class him as we may, as an Ionian or a 
Catholic, certain it is that no man ever trod 
the soil of Britain to whom we are so much 
indebted for the development and conserva- 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 199 

tion of the principles of libert} 7 as to Alfred. 
Three hundred years afterwards, the barons 
of Runnymede did nothing more than wrest 
from King John an acknowledgment of the 
principles, rights, and institutions founded 
and maintained by him. The Magna Charta 
was only a reassertion of those principles, 
more definitely set forth, perhaps, but not 
more pure. For this act those barons were 
excommunicated by Innocent III., the then 
reigning pontiff, who, acting upon the policy 
introduced by Pope Gregory TIL, (Hilde- 
brand,) claimed and exercised the right of 
directing the domestic polity of all the states 
of Christendom. Having first reduced King 
John to the condition of a vassal to himself, 
Innocent assumed the guardianship of his 
kingly prerogatives as against his subjects; 
and hence the thunders of the Yatican 
against the authors of the Great Charter, that 
bulwark of the liberties of Englishmen, which 
neither regal nor ecclesiastical power has 
ever been able to overthrow. Now, had 
Alfred lived during the pontificate of Hilde- 
brand or his successors, he would doubtless 
have been resisted in his policy; but, for- 
tunately for the world, he founded the insti- 
tutions of freedom and built up its defences 



200 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

before that evil day of sacerdotal domina- 
tion. 

But although the edict of excommunication 
cost those barons the loss of their property, 
rendered them outlaws, and exposed them to 
danger and death, they cared not for these 
things, but stood firm; for both God and the 
people were with them. It is a striking fact 
that the very time when the crown of Eng- 
land touched the lowest point of degradation 
and spiritual vassalage was the time the 
British Constitution had its birth. We now 
return. 

About fifty years after the death of Alfred, 
Eldred ascended the throne of England. He 
seems to have been a weak and superstitious 
prince, who implicitly surrendered his con- 
science to Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, a 
man of unbounded ambition and insolence, 
but who managed to preserve such a sem- 
blance of sanctity that Borne subsequently 
enrolled him among her saints as Saint 
Dunstan. Until his day priests and monks 
were permitted to marry, and the latter were 
at liberty to quit their convents at pleasure. 
But during this reign, and under the auspices 
of Dunstan, a new order of monks were intro- 
duced into England from Italy. These were 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 201 

the Benedictines, who eschewed marriage as 
sinful, secluded themselves entirely from the 
world, renounced all claim to liberty, and 
professed at once the most inviolable chastity 
and the most unreserved obedience to their 
ecclesiastical superiors. Now for the first 
time we see the "mystery of iniquity" fully 
developed and the distinguishing character- 
istics of full-grown Popery standing out in 
bold relief. The first thing these janizaries 
of the Church did was to commence a war 
upon the married clergy, and compel them 
either to give up their wives or incur censure 
and disgrace. The vilest and most oppro- 
brious epithets were freely bestowed upon 
those who resisted this tyrannical require- 
ment; and between a weak monarch and 
an ignorant people, both of whom were easily 
persuaded of the superior sanctity of the new 
order, the old order was sorely pressed ; and 
after a vigorous resistance, which continued 
during this and the succeeding reign, they 
became extinct through death or submission. 
The power of the clergy being thus 
strengthened, and they separated from the 
people in office, in domestic condition, in 
sympathy and interest, Eome began in 
earnest the work of subjugating England, 



202 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

and for a long time carried things with a 
high hand. It was about this time that she 
began the policy of possessing herself of the 
real estate of the realm. This was held 
under a tenure called mortmain. Under the 
law of mortmain, estates could be conveyed to 
the head of a religious house and his succes- 
sors ; but he or they had no power to alienate 
this property or part with it in any way. It 
thus became the perpetual inheritance of the 
Church. It is easy to imagine the tremendous 
power that would in process of time grow up 
under such a practice; and if we wish to see 
its practical effects upon a nation we have 
only to turn our eyes to Spain or Mexico. 
The doctrine of purgatory, combined with 
the law of mortmain, brought many a fine 
estate to the Church. A dying man, terrified 
at the prospect of working out a purgation 
of the sins of his life in that awful place, and 
being told by his confessor that a rich legacy 
to the Church would be an act so meritorious 
that it would be sufficient to cancel the sins 
of a whole life and fit him at once for entering 
heaven, would gladly close with the offer, and 
convey his estate, or at least a part of it, to 
holy uses. For a time the practice prevailed 
to such an extent in England that the people 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 203 

became alarmed; for they had sagacity 
enough to perceive that the estates of the 
Church and the arrogance of the ecclesiastics 
grew in exact proportion. It would be inte- 
resting, if time permitted, to trace the long 
and varying struggle between the Parliament 
and the Church on this subject, which con- 
tinued from the tenth to the sixteenth cen- 
tury. Law after law was enacted to regulate, 
check, or abolish the practice; but, no matter 
how ingeniously and carefully the laws were 
framed, the cunning of the ecclesiastics always 
managed to get round them in some way; 
and it was not until the Reformation that the 
practice was finally abolished. In nothing is 
that unconquerable spirit of liberty which 
began in Iona, or rather on Calvary, and 
which was embodied by Alfred into practical 
law, more strikingly exemplified than in the 
long and gallant struggle of the English 
people against this infamous policy. 

The spirit of Christ is the spirit of liberty; 
and where we find the principles of just laws 
and of resistance to tyranny, there may we 
expect to find true Christianity; and although 
it was only at intervals, and at periods of 
strong excitement, that these scintillations 
of the true spirit of the gospel broke out with 



204 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

sufficient vividness to reach down through 
centuries to our day, yet — as an American 
poet has eloquently expressed a similar 
thought, — 

"The rockets' red glare, and bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof, through the night, that our flag was still 
there" — 

we know, by what has reached us, that the 
flag of true Christian freedom was still float- 
ing there ; and hence we find that whenever 
the heavy pressure of sacerdotal and kingly 
tyranny was in the slightest degree removed, 
the pure light of gospel truth and Christian 
liberty burst forth. In 1235, Eobert Gros- 
tete, Bishop of Lincoln, openly disobeyed the 
Pope, and placed the authority of the Scrip- 
tures above that of -the Church, the very thing 
that Luther did three hundred years after- 
wards. A century later, Bradwardine taught 
doctrines identical with those taught long af- 
terwards by Calvin, and deeply lamented that 
a religion of externals had been substituted for 
inward Christianity. Edward III., who then 
reigned, procured the passage of a law which 
for the time-being secured the independence 
of the English Church. A quarter of a cen- 
tury after the death of Bradwardine, Wick- 



ENGLAND AND ROME. 205 

liffe appeared, and not only preached the 
pure word of God, but actually gave to the 
people of England that word written in their 
own language. Although Wickliffe preceded 
Luther and his cotemporary Eeformers one 
hundred and fifty years, yet his work may 
justly be regarded as the dawn of the Re- 
formation. From that time until Popery 
was overthrown there was a strong party in 
England who, through good and through 
evil report, maintained the authority of the 
Scriptures and repudiated that of the Pope. 

Our object has been to show that all 
through the Dark Ages there existed among 
the people of England an irrepressible spirit 
of resistance to the corruptions and tyranny 
of the Romish Church. We have traced it 
from its origin in the primitive Church, down 
through British and Saxon Christians, to the 
time when Rome put forth her most audacious 
pretensions. We have seen it resisting and 
protesting against the errors and encroach- 
ments of Rome, even before God by his provi- 
dence had said, "Come out of her, my people, 
and be not partakers of her sins;" and in all 
that long and gloomy period we see light 
struggling with darkness, truth with error, 
health with disease, and freedom with oppres- 

18 



206 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

sion j and finally the struggle terminated in 
the triumph of light and truth and liberty. In 
some of those dark periods some English Eli- 
jah might have uttered the complaint, " They 
have thrown down thine altars, and killed 
thy prophets with the sword, and I only am 
left, and they seek my life to take it away;" 
but, could such a one have had a direct re- 
sponse from Heaven, doubtless it would have 
been in such cheering language as saluted the 
ear of the desponding prophet: — " I have left 
me seven thousand in Israel who have not 
bowed the knee to Baal." 

Having traced the subject thus far, we 
close; for to treat of the Eeformation would 
be to enter upon a different subject. 



pimral life sifo <f rof»t|. 

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is 
liberty," are the words of divinely-inspired 
truth; and where liberty is there is progress. 
They are inseparable. The one is a con- 
comitant of the other. 

Liberty must have its roots in the souls of 



NATIONAL LIFE AND GROWTH. 207 

the people; and if it be there it will cer- 
tainly manifest itself in the administration 
of their government, be its form what it 
may. "Constitutions are not made: they grow ," 
said an eminent Englishman ; and seldom has 
a more profound aphorism been uttered. 

Men may talk as they please about this or 
that epoch, or revolution, or hero, or patriot ; 
still, the thoughtful student of history can 
trace the spirit and progress of true liberty 
beyond them. Its origin no man nor people 
may claim. He will trace it back to Him 
whose high commission it was to give de- 
liverance to the captive, and to that hour 
when he, with his expiring breath, exclaimed 
"It is finished !" and it will be felt that the 
great command first uttered at the grave in 
Bethany, "Loose him and let him go," has 
no private or contracted interpretation, but 
that it is still reverberating throughout the 
world with unabated potency, and will con- 
tinue to operate until every yoke is broken 
from the minds and bodies of men. 

Under the lead of the Captain of his salva- 
tion, man started upon a career of steady and 
resistless advancement. With a mind dis- 
enthralled and placed under an unerring 
guide, the light of truth shining upon his 



208 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

path, he went forward, stumbling and wan- 
dering at times, but still onwards and up- 
wards. Slowly he emerged from the dark 
region through which he had so long wan- 
dered; and with ever-increasing power he 
overcame, and is still overcoming, the mighty 
obstacles that did lie, and are yet lying, in his 
path. 

Faith, which is the grand central principle 
in Religion, is also the prime element in 
human progress. If we believe in God and 
intelligently trust him, we will also believe 
and trust in man. Here is the secret and 
cement of brotherhood. If we trust in man 
we cannot but love him; and if we love him 
we will unite with him in our endeavours to 
promote our common good. This principle 
manifests itself in social life, in morals, in 
politics, in opposition to common evils and 
dangers, and in the accomplishment of objects 
of common benefit. Thus may we trace the 
construction of a bridge, a railroad, or a tele- 
graph-line back to that heaven-implanted 
principle which unites man to his Maker. 

This deep, sacred, beautiful principle of 
life and energy has led to results at which 
even the actors themselves are amazed. 
Single, isolated, unaided, distrusting others 



NATIONAL LIFE AND GROWTH. 209 

aDd others distrusting them, men are al- 
most powerless; but let them combine their 
energies, and nothing feasible is too hard for 
them. Look at our railroad and telegraph 
systems and a thousand other material ob- 
jects of public utility.* Look at our institu- 
tions of learning, of benevolence, and of 
jurisprudence. Look at our matchless struc- 
ture of government, around which are set 
our State and municipal institutions, all 
moving in freedom, harmony, and order. 
"Whence came these things ? Truly, they are 
not the creatures of a day nor of a genera- 
tion. They were not made : they grew. 
They are part of the fruit of that Tree "the 
leaves of which are for the healing of the 
nations." 

Look again at our systems of public 

* At the very time when this little work was being 
put into stereotype, the Atlantic Telegraph cable, ex- 
tending from Valentia Bay, on the west coast of Ireland, 
to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, was successfully laid, 
after two failures. Universal rejoicing on both sides 
of the Atlantic followed this mightiest achievement of 
science. The heart of the Christian world responded 
thrillingly to the first message transmitted across the 
great deep: — '■'■Glory to God in the highest, on earth 
peace, good will toward men." 
18* 



210 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

schools, reared and sustained by the fostering 
hand of the State. Who does not see in this 
beautiful thing a partial fulfilment at least 
of that prediction of the prophet which 
speaks of kings becoming "nursing fathers"? 
This, too, is but another development of 
the great principle of which we are speak- 
ing, and is a tributary of immeasurable 
volume and power to the great river of hu- 
man progress. 

The progress of population in our day is 
beyond all former example; and this also is 
only found conjoined with intelligent Chris- 
tian freedom. China is stationary, perhaps 
retrograding ; so are India and Africa ; and 
France, Austria, Spain, Italy, and the South 
American States are advancing very slowly 
indeed, if at all. But England, which in the 
first year of the present century had a popu- 
lation of 8,872,980, the slow accumulation of 
two thousand years, and which was then 
regarded as over-crowded, had in 1831 a 
population of 13,894,569 ; and in 1851 it had 
nearly doubled what it was at the beginning 
of the century, being 16,734,647. Here we 
see that England gained as largely in popu- 
lation during the first half-century of well- 
developed and confirmed freedom as she had 



NATIONAL LIFE AND GROWTH. 211 

done during a period of forty times that 
duration of comparative darkness, despotism, 
and struggle. This progress in population 
is really more wonderful than that of the 
United States, when we remember that Eng- 
land was at the beginning of that half-cen- 
tury old and densely populated, and that in 
those fifty years she sent out to every quarter 
of the globe millions of emigrants and colo- 
nists; while the United States had a vast, 
unpeopled territory, and received during the 
same period millions of immigrants from the 
Old World. 

This marvellous increase in population 
there, here, and in every land where man is 
free, is the result of those material comforts 
and moral and social blessings which emanci- 
pated genius and Christian fraternity are 
sure to create. 

That knowledge is power, is an aphorism 
universally accepted ; but faith, taken in the 
broadest and truest sense of the term, is a 
still greater power. It is the root of know- 
ledge; it is the bond of society; it links the 
finite to the infinite, and literally removes 
mountains. Without it there can be no free 
government, no commerce, properly so called, 
no combinations for the accomplishment of 



212 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

grand and beneficent enterprises, whether 
political, religious, benevolent, scientific, or 
material. 

An intelligent gentleman, who had spent 
some time in Mexico, was speaking one 
evening of the condition of the people of that 
country, — of the almost total absence of public 
spirit and improvement, and of the difficulties 
attending commercial transactions. "The 
whole trouble,'' said he, emphatically, "is 
traceable to the fact that they have no faith. 
They don't know what it is. One merchant 
purchases of another merchant ten thousand 
dollars' worth of some commodity; but, in- 
stead of a note, a check, or a bill, a score of 
bare-backed, bare-legged leperos are seen 
moving in Indian file along the streets, each 
carrying a bag of dollars, and all guarded and 
watched by several policemen or soldiers." 
AVho can dispute the conclusion to which he 
came? They have plenty of credulity, it 
is true, but no faith; and, having no faith, 
they have no freedom, no peace, no security, 
no prosperity, and they make no progress. 

Among no people, past or present, is the 
opposite character so strongly exemplified as 
among those of the United States, and parti- 
cularly those of New England; and every- 



NATIONAL LIFE AND GROWTH. 213 

where we witness the magnificent achieve- 
ments of combined energy. Do men wish to 
make money? They unite their capital and 
their skill; and they do so because they have 
confidence in each other, and because they 
know that they can better advance their 
separate individual interests in that way 
than by operating alone. Do they desire to 
advance the growth and prosperity of their 
city, town, or neighbourhood ? With a fore- 
cast as sagacious as it is generous, they take 
such measures as they deem necessary, and 
freely contribute of their wealth to carry out 
the enterprise. Do they wish to provide for 
the relief of the afflicted ? A hospital or an 
asylum rises at the bidding of a generous 
combination. Are they anxious to secure the 
blessings of education ? A union of hearts, 
hands, and purses soon brings the college 
and the school-house into existence and 
maintains them in their beneficent work. 
And the church, the Sunday-school, the 
public library, and kindred institutions, all 
owe their existence to the same great prin- 
ciple. 

Here is the grand secret of our unparalleled 
progress as a people. Slowly and painfully 
at first the population spread from valley to 



214 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

valley, each man struggling for himself, — 
aided greatly, it is true, by mutual kindness; 
but it was not until within a few years that 
the great principle of solid, efficient, well- 
organized combination became general and 
made the settlement and subjugation of our 
Western wilderness so different from what 
it had been half a century before. Compare 
the progress of the first settlers of Kentucky 
and Ohio with that of those of Wisconsin, 
Iowa, and Minnesota. In the case of the last 
each man acts for himself as much as did the 
former; but the principle which made kind 
neighbours of the first, and established only 
too extensively the relations of debtor and 
creditor among them, has taken a different 
phase, and has made the last not only kind 
and confiding friends, but co-workers for their 
mutual and general benefit. Like every good 
and living principle, it is growing, developing, 
maturing, and will continue to do so until the 
whole earth shall be replenished, subdued, 
and become the abode of a band of brethren. 
Whenever a great and good principle is 
unfolding itself, minds more ardent and im- 
petuous than wise catch the idea and run it 
to excess. Hence the mad schemes, with 
which the world rung a few years ago, of 



NATIONAL LIFE AND GROWTH. 215 



fraternal associations, communities of go 
&c. &c, some of which aimed at an entire re- 
construction of society. But in real progress 
there are no novelties, no violence, no sudden 
changes. Each successive development is 
the natural, almost necessary, product of that 
which preceded it, and is manifested as 
gradually and noiselessly as the opening of 
the leaves and blossoms of a tree. Like its 
Author, this great principle does not strive 
nor cry, neither does it lift up its voice in 
the streets. It has its primitive seat in the 
individual soul; that in turn operates upon 
the outward character of the man; the in- 
fluence of the regenerated man acts upon 
those around him ; the leaven reaches and 
changes particle after particle of the great 
mass ; and so the power of the living prin- 
ciple extends and subdues; thus does it "go 
forth conquering and to conquer," until all 
things are brought under its control. 

But, while we may in humble gratitude 
and without arrogance felicitate ourselves 
upon the progress we have made, and are yet 
making, towards that unreached and as yet 
unimagined perfection of moral, social, and 
material well-being to which our hopes and 
aspirations tend, let us remember that the 



216 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

seed-time is here yet, not the harvest; that 
there is much ground yet to be possessed ; that 
thorns and briers cover the moral soil even 
of our own country. We must work, — work 
in patience and in faith. The truth which 
can alone make free must be implanted in 
the great heart of the nation. We must dig 
deep, until we reach that rock upon which 
the wise man builds his house, and against 
which the winds, the rains, and the floods 
beat in vain. Nothing short of this can 
afford assurance of enduring safety and pro- 
gress to this or any other nation. Without 
it we may indeed come to great power and 
spread ourselves like a green bay-tree; but 
soon the historian would be called upon to 
record the fact that "he passed away, and 
lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he 
could not be found." 

The triumphs of party, however important 
for the moment, have but slight abiding in- 
fluence upon the great ultimate destiny of a 
nation. It may be but a wave rolling across 
the surface of a tideless lake. The waters 
may for a moment be lifted up, but only to 
roll back to where they were before. 

Popular agitations are wholesome, even 
indispensable. The plough agitates the soil, 



NATIONAL LIFE AND GROWTH. 217 

and fits it for the reception of good seed; 
but if we rest there — if we only plough the 
field — a ranker and fouler crop of weeds will 
be our only reward. But the Great Hus- 
bandman, in his good providence, has made 
his own people seedsmen, not ploughmen. 
Their business is to watch and take advantage 
of whatever may move and lay open the 
popular mind, and drop in the appropriate 
seed, leaving to Him who giveth the increase 
the care and nourishment of it after it has 
been lodged there. 

It is, however, in the education of the 
young — in giving a right direction to the 
tender and flexible shoot — that we may most 
rationally hope to maintain in purity and 
vigour those great principles of which we 
are speaking, and which have carried us thus 
far, and which are able to bear us onwards 
and upwards indefinitely. It is a work of 
faith and patience to sow seed of any kind, 
whether moral or material. The words or 
the grains, as they leave our lips or our 
hands, sink out of view. They seem to be 
thrown away; for we perceive no immediate 
results. But there is no other way. We 
must sow if we would hope to reap. 

Liberty is essential to the life and growth 
19 



218 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

of a nation; but let us ever bear in mind 
that there is no such thing as absolute free- 
dom. Man must have a master. There is One, 
and only one, whose service is perfect free- 
dom. As Christians we freely acknowledge 
his authority; but we are prone to forget 
him in the conduct of our politics. Herein 
lies our danger; and to this, more than to 
any thing else, may we attribute the abuses 
and corruptions now so prevalent and so 
alarming. The French people in 1789-93 
aimed at absolute freedom ; but they soon dis- 
covered that it would not do. Unrestrained 
licentiousness, terrific commotions, and an 
era of blood and terror very soon compelled 
them to seek what security and repose they 
could find under the heavy yoke of an im- 
perial master. Nothing in all history is more 
suggestive than this fact. 

The authority of the King of kings is ab- 
solute and cannot be evaded. Nations and 
individuals are equally amenable. We may 
as well think to escape from his presence as 
from his law. It binds the voter at the ballot- 
box as closely and as firmly as it does the Chris- 
tian in the house of prayer. But there is no 
thraldom in this subjection; for the more per- 
fect our obedience the greater is our freedom. 



THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 219 

Every thing, indeed, is under law, and the 
law of every thing is adapted to its nature. 
The vapour that rises, the rain that de- 
scends, the stream that flows, the blood that 
circulates, the food that assimilates, the plant 
that grows, the animal that plays the part 
assigned to it, and the man who reverences 
and adores his G-od and discharges his duty 
to his fellows, — all, all act in obedience to 

law; AND THAT OBEDIENCE IS PROGRESS. 



It may, to some readers, sound like a novel 
and startling proposition, that God has ever 
given to every people as much freedom as 
they were able to bear; but the student of 
history will, upon careful examination, be 
constrained to admit its truth. To say that 
he has given to every man as much as he 
could bear would be absurd and untrue ; but 
nations are dealt with in their aggregate, 
not their individual, capacity. 

The mere form of government is of much 
less importance than men generally suppose; 



220 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

for the form will soon adapt itself to the 
character of the people. As they advance in 
knowledge and in fitness for self-government, 
the government will advance with them. 
Great Britain furnishes a notable example of 
this. These changes rarely require violence. 
Indeed, violence always impedes true pro- 



What we term the American Eevolution 
was, in the proper sense of the word, no 
revolution at all. It had reference not to 
internal principles and polity, but to outward 
relations. The principles of liberty were as 
fully developed in the British colonies as they 
were after those colonies had become inde- 
pendent States. It was impossible that the 
men of those colonies could be enslaved or 
long submit to arbitrary imposition. As they 
grew strong, the jealousy of a weak and short- 
sighted administration dictated a change of 
policy towards them, and that new and erro- 
neous policy dictated on their part a declara- 
tion of independence. The war which ensued 
was a war of dismemberment, — a war of inde- 
pendence. It was successful; and nothing 
remained at its close for the people to do 
except to arrange their outward structures 
of government to suit their altered circum- 



THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 221 

stances. They were now independent ; they 
were free before. The spirit and even the 
letter of their constitutions had long since 
grown to full maturity. The alterations 
which they underwent in form did not change 
the substance. The freedom which existed 
in these colonies was real, substantial, inde- 
structible, for it was founded upon the Bible 
and developed itself in a system of just and 
wholesome laws. Under such a state of things, 
progress was an inevitable consequence. 

Occupy, multiply, replenish, subdue, express 
the instincts and the history of man in his best 
earthly estate, when free from inherent de- 
basement and outward thraldom; and nothing 
in the annals of mankind is more wonderful 
than the progress of settlement on this conti- 
nent, especially in our own country; and, like 
all real progress, it advanced silently, steadily, 
irresistibly. It began upon the first planting 
of colonies of Christian men on the Atlantic 
border. Slowly, painfully, and perilously the 
settlements began to push westward. More 
than a century elapsed before the Alleghanies 
were surmounted ; being less than two miles 
a year. Nearly two centuries passed before 
there was any thing that could be called 

with 
19* 



222 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

difficulties, exposed to both dangers and 
privations, and destitute of most of the com- 
forts and advantages of civilization, the 
advancing tide of population crept onwards, 
but acquired new force at every step. In 
time, large tracts of the wilderness were con- 
verted into fruitful fields; wealth accumu- 
lated; science and the spirit of enterprise 
grew rapidly, until the steamboat, and. finally 
the railroad-car, superseded the pack-horse; 
and now the full tide of civilization pours 
onward at once, and we can hardly say that 
there are any pioneers. The astonished red 
man sees splendid cities rise in the midst of 
his hunting-grounds before he has time to get 
away. But slow as was this progress at first, 
compared with what we now see, it was real, 
and could not fail of success; for the Bible, 
the school-master, and the minister of the 
gospel were ever in the van. How unlike is 
this quiet, smooth, and ever-increasing stream 
to the roaring, turbid, desolating floods which 
rolled over Europe in the Middle Ages ! 

And to what will it lead, and where will it 
stop ? In a few years, as things are progress- 
ing, the valleys of the Upper Mississippi, the 
Eed Eiver of the North, and the' Missouri 
will be occupied. The Eocky Mountains 



THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 223 

will hardly be felt as a barrier to the onward 
spread of the living tide; and, that passed, 
the extensive territories on the Pacific slope 
will fill up with a rapidity not less than that 
which marked the progress of Wisconsin and 
Iowa. Opulent cities will continue to spring 
into existence as if by magic, as many have 
already done. 

A fine region lies north of our national 
boundary, between Lake Winnepeg and the 
Rocky Mountains, which can only be advan- 
tageously reached through our territory, and 
which is sure to be connected with it by social 
and commercial ties so strong as to render its 
people and our people one in spite of govern- 
mental boundaries fixed by the diplomatists 
of preceding generations. They will "flow 
together/' and no shock of violent dismember- 
ment will ever be felt on either side. The 
day for that kind of coerced fealty is past 
among free people, never to return. While 
it is true that the Queen of Great Britain has 
no more loyal subjects in her wide dominions 
than the people of Canada, it is equally true 
that the mutual ties of sympathy and interest 
between them and the people of the United 
States are growing stronger every day. 
Speaking the same language, being equally 



224 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

free, and being homogeneous in faith and 
social habits, why should it not be so? Al- 
though the one may live under a monarchy 
and the other be republican, they are still 
becoming more and more one people, and are 
in all essential matters as closely allied as are 
those of ]STew York and Pennsylvania. The 
late joint act of the two Governments, esta- 
blishing reciprocal free trade, is a significant 
index of the tendency of things. 

There is something very remarkable in the 
pressure of American population and energy 
westward. It has its mission, and it is a 
great one. Already they have reached the 
shores of the Pacific; and it will not be long 
before the central regions of the continent 
will be filled with people and traversed by 
railroads and telegraph-lines. What then? 
Will that ocean stop the human tide? By 
no means. The same energy, the same am- 
bition and bold spirit of adventure, will carry 
it to Asia, and the valleys of the Amoor and 
other great rivers of that continent will be 
vocal with the same language and resound 
with the clangor of the same machinery that 
will enliven those of the Missouri and the 
Columbia. It will not go there to conquer, 
dispossess, or enslave, but to emancipate, 



THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 22 

to teach, to enlighten, and to bless ; and, as 
this process goes on, those hoary and stupid 
despotisms which have long made China and 
Japan great prison-houses will melt away as 
the fetters of winter melt away under the 
genial rays of the vernal sun. Thus, art and 
true science, conjoined with commerce, with 
their improving and rejuvenating influence, 
will open the way for Truth, Eeligion, 
Liberty, and Law. 

"Westward the star of empire takes its 
way/' said Bishop Berkeley, more than a cen- 
tury ago; and every year is making the truth 
of that bold poetic declaration more apparent 
and more surprising. A century ago, the minds 
of men of strong faith fixed upon the then 
far-distant Mississippi as the limit of that 
western march of empire. Next the Eocky 
Mountains were the ultima Thule of ardent 
imaginations. Things progressed rapidly, 
and then the shores of the Pacific were fixed 
upon as the boundary of Time's last and 
noblest offspring. But we now see that the 
star of empire is not likely to quench its fires 
in the Pacific. Westward and still westward 
the great tide of human progress seems des- 
tined to roll on, until it makes the circuit of 
the globe, revivifying that which may live, 



226 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

and buying or sweeping away that which is 
dead. 

It matters not what may be the motive, the 
impelling principle, of those who lead in this 
great march. It may be cupidity, or am- 
bition, or benevolence, or all of these. Be 
this 'as it may, the signs of the times plainly 
indicate already that the sun which shall 
scatter the gross darkness that has for ages 
enshrouded Asia will arise, as does the 
natural sun, from the Pacific. 

It has ever been so. From Asia, the 
primeval home of the race and the cradle of 
religion and science, did civilization creep 
slowly westward over Europe, but made no 
progress eastward. For a few centuries its 
march was arrested by the Atlantic, until at 
length it acquired the power and skill to 
overleap that barrier, when again it took up 
its triumphal march in America, with a power 
and celerity of movement never before known. 
Here, on this broad and magnificent conti- 
nent, we have seen and felt its movements. 
It no longer creeps, like a feeble rivulet 
making its way through a morass, but rolls 
onward like a mighty river. It is a power 
guided and impelled by more than the 
wisdom and the strength of man ; and if the 



THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 227 

Atlantic could not arrest its march in the 
fifteenth century, while still in a state of 
comparative feebleness, how quickly will it 
overleap another ocean-barrier iu the nine- 
teenth ! 

The sun, bearing in his train light and life 
and joy and blessing, marches from east to 
west, as does true empire; while storms and 
tempests generally move in the opposite 
direction, as have the desolating footsteps 
of conquerors and oppressors. Alexander, 
the Caesars, Great Britain, and France have 
all attempted to force the march of empire 
eastward ; but the result in all cases was dis- 
comfiture and disaster. Those empires more 
resembled the blaze of the meteor, the flash 
of the lightning, than the light and the vivi- 
fying power of the sun. Contrast at this 
moment the movements going on in the 
valley of the Mississippi with those in the 
valley of the Ganges. 

"The star of empire." What is empire? 
We have suffered our understandings to be 
warped by past and existing abuses on this 
point, until the word suggests to the mind 
the overgrown dominions of the Caesars or 
the huge and beastly realm of the Czar 
But God himself gave us the true idea of 



228 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

empire when lie said, "Be fruitful, and mul- 
tiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue 
it." This is what Bishop Berkeley means 
by the "star of empire;" and this is what 
the people of North America are now doing. 
This is empire in its true sense, — the do- 
minion of man over nature, not man over 
man. This it is which carries with it indi- 
vidual, social, and national peace and pros- 
perity. This it is which sets every man 
"under his own vine and fig-tree, with 
none to molest him or make him afraid." 
This is what constitutes the true glory and 
defence of a nation and brings the greatest 
good to the greatest number. It is the con- 
dition of things which God gives to those 
who fear him, and who make his law their 
highest, their best, their unalterable consti- 
tution. 



god's dwelling-place. 229 



CMfr gMImg-f to. 



That God is everywhere present is a truth 
which can be received by the believer and the 
unbeliever alike. Omnipresence is one of his 
essential attributes, and one which none but 
an atheist will deny. The Deist contem- 
plates and, in some degree, adores him as the 
great Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the 
universe ; and his view may be correct as far 
as it goes. He regards with admiration the 
evidences of wisdom and goodness which 
surround him on every side, and the con- 
templation often awakens within him such 
emotions as are expressed in the following 
opening lines of Thomson's "Hymn to the 
Seasons :" — 

"These, as they change, Almighty Father! these 
Are but the varied God. The rolling year 
Is full of thee. Forth in the pleasing Spring 
Thy beauty walks, thy tenderness and love : 
Wide flush the fields ; the softening air is balm ; 
Echo the mountains round ; the forest smiles ; 
And every sense and every heart is joy. 
20 



230 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Then comes thy glory in the Summer months, 
With light and heat refulgent. Then thy sun 
Shoots full perfection through the swelling year ; 
And oft thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks ; 
And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, 
By brooks and groves, in hollow whispering gales. 
Thy bounty shines in Autumn unconfined, 
And spreads a common feast for all that lives. 
In Winter, awful thou ! with clouds and storms 
Around thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest roll'd, 
Majestic darkness ! on the whirlwind's wing 
Riding sublime, thou bidd'st the world adore, 
And humblest Nature with thy northern blast." 

This fine passage breathes only the lan- 
guage of Deism, or natural religion; but in 
saying this I am not finding fault with it. 
Would that such reflections were more com- 
mon among Christians ! for they expand the 
mind, purify the heart, and exalt the affec- 
tions. David, in the 19th Psalm, shows us 
that he loved to contemplate the glory of God 
in the works of creation. "The heavens 
declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
showeth his handiwork. Day unto day 
uttereth speech, and night unto night show- 
eth knowledge." But David, after expatiating 
in a few fervid strains upon the glories of 
" Nature," by an easy and beautiful transition 
proceeds to speak of the "Law of the Lord," 



god's dwelling-place. 231 

— his revealed will, — and ascribes to that 
benefits and blessings which cannot be found 
among the glories of the visible heavens or 
in the beauties and utilities of earth. " The 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the 
soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, 
making wise the simple," is his opening lan- 
guage on this highest and most glorious 
branch of his subject; and he goes on until 
he exhausts both language and simile in his 
effort to express an adequate idea of the 
ineffable preciousness of that revelation which 
God has made in his written word. Let the 
proud Deist boast that he can offer to " the 
God of Nature" a more exalted worship than 
the Christian, — and I have given above as 
fine a sample of that kind of worship as there 
is to be found in the English language. But 
what is there in that to convert the soul, to 
make wise the simple, to rejoice the heart, to 
enlighten the eyes ? What is there in that 
to show a sinful man how he may approach 
his most holy Maker? Dark indeed would 
his condition be were this all the religion to 
which man could attain. Poor, sinful, suffer- 
ing man needs a clearer revelation, a more 
certain guide, and a surer word of promise 
than he is able to read in the book of Nature. 



232 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

Greater and holier orders of being may see 
God with all-sufficient clearness in the glories 
of creation; but we cannot, because our 
iniquities have separated between us and our 
God, and our sins have hid his face from us ; 
and we know not whether he regards us in 
mercy or in wrath, until a clearer and better 
revelation than Nature affords assures us that 
he is merciful, and that he has found a way 
in which he can be just and yet justify the 
sinner that believes in Jesus. 

But where is God? "Where is his dwelling- 
place? Nature cannot tell us; for the God 
of Nature is "a God that hideth himself." 
Is it answered that both Nature and Eeve- 
lation teach that he is everywhere present ? 
That is a great and glorious truth; but our 
faith cannot sustain itself upon that alone. 
"We need something more. Shall we regard 
him as enthroned in unapproachable glory in 
the highest heavens? This, too, is right; 
" for thus saith the high and lofty One that 
inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I 
dwell in the high and holy place." Had this 
been all that he could say of his dwelling- 
place, we might admire, but we could not 
worship, we could not trust, we could not 
love, we could not hope. Such a being would 



god's dwelling-place. 233 

be too high for us. We could not reach him. 
But, blessed be his name, he has one other 
dwelling-place. "I dwell/' says he, "in the 
high and holy place; with him also that is 

OP A CONTRITE AND HUMBLE SPIRIT;" and in 

this dwelling-place, even in our hearts, we 
meet with him and he with us. Here it is 
that we enter into covenant with him; here 
it is that our fellowship is with him and with 
his Son Jesus Christ ; here it is that we sup 
with him and he with us ; here it is that we 
are taken into the relation of children, and in 
virtue of his dwelling with us and in us we 
obtain the unspeakable privilege of calling 
him "our Father." The Saviour says, "If a 
man love me, he will keep my ways; and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him and make our abode with him." Let the 
Deist boast of his lofty religion; but can he find 
any thing in it like this ? With the Christian 
he can believe in a Lofty One who inhabiteth 
eternity; but can he realize in that Lofty One 
a kind and loving God who has taken up his 
abode with him as a Friend and Guest? 
" Behold," says He who is the first and the 
last, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock: 
if any man hear my voice and open the door, 
I will come to him and sup with him and he 
20* 



234 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

with me." Think of the intimate fellowship 
of two friends supping together, the one the 
guest of the other, and then remember that 
this is the image chosen by Infinite Wisdom 
to set forth the close and endearing com- 
munion to which he admits and invites us. 

While we are on earth, God must come to 
us, if there is to be any communion between 
us, for we cannot go to him in his high and 
holy place. In infinite mercy and con- 
descension he does come to us; and we know 
that in his own good time, after his gracious 
work of sanctification shall be completed, he 
will take us up to his high and holy place, 
where we shall "see him as he is." 

It is good to "see God in clouds and hear 
him in the wind ;" it is good to contemplate 
his glory in the visible heavens and in his 
handiwork on this beautiful earth; it is good 
to meditate upon him as enthroned in that 
holy place towards which our highest aspira- 
tions tend; but, oh, it is life from the dead to 
realize that he dwells with us and in us. I 
know that faith staggers at this wonderful 
truth, although the strongest terms and the 
most striking figures are used again and again 
to declare it and set it forth, so that we may 
have the fullest assurance of the glorious fact. 



I WILL TRUST AND NOT BE AFRAID. 235 

Even Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, 
exclaimed, in a transport of adoration and 
wonder, "Will G-od in very deed dwell with 
man I" But it never entered into Solomon's 
heart to conceive the glorious truths which 
have since his day been revealed to man from 
the lips of Him whose very name is u God 
with us." 



"1 Ml tat anir nsA to aftafo." 

These precious words are found in the 2d 
verse of the 12th chapter of Isaiah. They 
are part of a triumphant song of praise to be 
sung in " that day" when the prophecy with 
which it stands connected shall, be fulfilled in 
the universal triumph of the gospel. But 
the words express a sentiment always proper 
to the truly believing heart. The Psalmist, 
in drawing the moral portrait of a good man ; 
says of him, " His heart is fixed, trusting in 
the Lord; his heart is established, he shall 
not be afraid." (cxii. 7, 8.) How beautifully 
does this declaration harmonize with the 
prophetic song of Isaiah! 

It may seem to us that it was easy for 



236 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

Isaiah and David to exercise and enjoy the 
trust their language expresses. Somehow 
the idea often steals upon us that there was 
something peculiar in the faith of the holy 
men of old; that they were blessed with 
higher privileges and admitted to more inti- 
mate communion with God than are Chris- 
tians of the present day. But it is not a 
correct idea. If, dear reader, you are really 
a believer in Jesus, then are you just as truly 
beloved by the Father as were any of those 
good men. Your faith and theirs is the 
same in kind, though it may differ in degree. 
Their superior privileges consisted in the fact 
that God was pleased to make them the me- 
diums of the revelation of his will, and not 
in any superior blessings of personal sal- 
vation. They were washed in the same 
blood, sanctified by the same Spirit, and 
thus became heirs of the same inheritance. 
In nothing pertaining to personal blessings 
and privileges had they the slightest pre- 
eminence over the true believer who is now 
living; nor were they warranted to rest in 
God with more confidence than any who may 
read these words. 

" I will trust." I will believe ; I will rely 
upon his promises; I will take him at his 



I WILL TRUST AND NOT BE AFRAID. 237 

word; "I will say of the Lord, He is my 
refuge and my fortress ; my God : in him will 
I trust/' The 23d Psalm is all made up of 
the outpouring of a trusting heart. It em- 
braces every thing, from daily bread to the 
glories and felicities of heaven. Its language 
covers time and eternity, body and soul, life 
and death; and there is not an expression in 
it which the humble believer may not appro- 
priate to himself and utter with an unfaltering 
tongue. This psalm expresses the language 
of true faith, of well-founded confidence, of 
that "hope which maketh not ashamed," 
and which becomes firmer the more it is 
tried. It is founded upon that rock upon 
which Jesus says the wise man built his 
house, against which the rain and floods and 
winds beat in vain. 

The trust above spoken of is the trust of 
him who knows in whom he believes. It is 
not the blind or presumptuous trust in which 
too many indulge. Some persons presume 
that because God is good, therefore he will 
not be strict to mark iniquity. They know 
and acknowledge that they are sinners : still 
they hope in some way to be saved, they 
know not how; still they trust, partly in 
themselves, partly in the Saviour, and partly 



238 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

in they know not what and do not care to 
examine too narrowly. Such trust as this 
never results in true peace and joy. Its 
highest achievement is a stupid quietness of 
conscience, except in some cases, where the 
mind is strongly excited by surrounding 
enthusiasm and is sympathetically aroused, 
there may be a brief season of lively but 
presumptuous faith and a gleam of spurious 

joy- 

We are commanded to be ever prepared to 
give a reason for the hope that\is in us, both 
to others and to ourselves. " Examine your- 
selves/' says the apostle, " whether ye be in 
the faith; prove your own selves." For this 
great work God has furnished us with abun- 
dance of rules and marks and guides; and 
it is our duty not to stop until we arrive at 
a certain, unquestionable conclusion; for, 
until we do so, we cannot "trust and not be 
afraid." 

When the disciples, together with their 
Lord, were overtaken in the Sea of Galilee, 
in tfte night, with a terrible tempest, which 
threatened every moment to engulf them, 
they became greatly alarmed. But when 
Jesus awoke he rebuked them for their fears 
and their want of faith. "Why are ye so 



I WILL TRUST AND NOT BE AFRAID. 239 

fearful? how is it that ye have no faith ?" 
But, it may be said, Christ was in the ship: 
therefore it could not be lost, and they were 
really in no danger. This is very true ; but 
the Saviour was no nearer to them than he is 
to us, and no more able or solicitous to pre- 
serve them than he is to preserve us. Jesus 
slept then; and this doubtless increased the 
alarm of the disciples; but he does not sleep 
now. "He that keepeth thee will not slum- 
ber; behold, he that keepeth Israel shall 
neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy 
keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right 
hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day 
nor the moon by night. The Lord shall 
preserve thee from all evil : he shall preserve 
thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going 
out and thy coming in from this time forth, 
and even for evermore." (Ps. cxxi.) Now, 
doubting Christian, take these words and 
respond to them in the language of the 23d 
Psalm, and then see if you cannot say, with 
as much firmness and holy confidence as did 
any of the old worthies, "I will trust and not 
be afraid." If Christ be in you, (and he is, 
unless you be a reprobate,) that is better than 
merely to be in the same ship with him ; if 



240 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Christ be in you, you have nothing to fear; 
" there shall no evil befall thee." 

But, says the trembling soul, i" am afraid 
of myself. That is right, but not quite cor- 
rectly expressed. You mean, you distrust 
yourself. In that you are correct, and can 
hardly run to excess ; but you have no reason 
to be afraid of yourself. "The Lord shall 
preserve thee from all evil : he shall preserve 
thy soul." Surely when he says he will pre- 
serve thee from all evil he does not omit that 
greatest of all evils, a corrupt, unstable, 
deceitful heart. By his providence he will 
develop its hidden evils, but only that they 
may be overcome and eradicated. 

Such brief and energetic sentences as this 
which we have set at the head of this article 
ought to be treasured in the mind of all 
Christians, to be ready in every time of need. 
They serve at once to embody the thoughts 
we wish to cherish and to suppress the risings 
of doubts and fears. They are applicable to 
every possible circumstance of an alarming 
nature. They furnish the Holy Spirit with 
the means wherewith he operates upon our 
hearts; for it is his work to take of the things 
of Christ and show them unto us, and to bring 
to our remembrance whatsoever he has said 



I WILL TRUST AND NOT BE AFRAID. 241 

unto us. There is not a day but we need to 
use these words, if we would keep our souls 
in peace and assure our hearts before him. 
How beautifully simple are the words, and 
yet how sublime ! How befitting the lips of 
a timid, weak, but loving and confiding child ! 
How honouring and well-pleasing to our 
Almighty Father, from whom we learn to 
utter them while we run under his sheltering 
wings ! How soothing in the day of trouble, 
and how consolatory in those periods, well 
known to every experienced Christian, when 
God hides his face and leaves us to walk in 
darkness! And in view of the last and 
greatest trial, when the gloom of the valley 
of the shadow of death rises as a dark cloud 
before us, and Nature instinctively shrinks 
affrighted, oh then to be able to say, with 
David, " I shall fear no evil," or, in the words 
of Isaiah, " I will trust and not be afraid I" 



21 



242 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 



p. 3J— an* % Initersalist. 

One short sentence from the lips of the 
Saviour has greater power over the prejudices 
and errors of the human heart than the most 
elaborate arguments of the most gifted minds. 
But it requires more humility and self-denial 
than most of us are possessed of to sink our- 
selves entirely out of sight and fight only 
with the sword of the Spirit. 

Rev. Mr. "N , in his missionary travels 

through the western part of New York, came 
to a village where there was a society of 
Universalists whose preacher was a man of 
great zeal and fond of controversy. He 

tidied various expedients to draw Mr. IS" 

into a debate; but the latter avoided him. 
One day, however, they met by accident, and 
were introduced to each other. The Uni- 
versalist would not let the opportunity slip. 

"Well, Mr. 1ST ," said he ; "I am one of 

those who hold that all will be saved." 

"I am aware of it," said M£ N 



MR. N AND THE UNIVERSALIS! 1 . 243 

"And I think I can convince you that the 
doctrine is true/' said the Universalist. 

"I will hear you, sir," said Mr. N . 

The other then entered upon the usual 
arguments in support of such views, re- 
ceiving an attentive hearing on the part of 

Mr. N , until he had said all that he 

wished to say. 

"I have but one reply to make to all that," 

said Mr. 1ST , looking him earnestly in the 

face. 

"Well, sir, what is it ?" said the Universalist. 

"Except you repent you will perish." 

The reply sorely nonplussed the other. He 

complained that Mr. !N" had not met the 

case; but, being assured by the latter that 
he had nothing else to say, he rallied and 
put forth some further arguments, being 
determined, if possible, to draw him out. 

Mr. N heard him quietly until he was 

through, and again said, "I have but one 
reply to make to all that." 

The other paused to hear what it would 
be, when Mr. K" solemnly repeated the aw- 
ful words, "Except you repent you will perish." 

"Why," said the wounded man, — for the 
sword of the Spirit had pierced him deeply, 
— "you will not argue at all." 



244 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

" I have nothing more to say/' quietly ob- 
served Mr. N . 

After a short pause the Universalist turned 
to leave the room. 

"Stop, my friend," said Mr. N : "I 

wish to say to you that there is one thing 
that you will not be able to forget." 

" What is that, sir ?" he asked. 

11 Except you repent you will lose your soul!" 

A bitter smile of incredulity was the only 

reply to this last remark; and Mr. N 

saw nothing more of him that day. 

On the following day the Universalist 

called upon Mr. N and expressed a wish 

to have more conversation. " No," said the 
latter; "I do not wish for any more conversa- 
tion with you." 

" Oh, sir," said the other, " I have not come 
to argue with you. You were right yester- 
day when you told me that there was one 
thing I would not be able to forget. I feel 
that it is true, that except I repent I must 
perish j and I have come to ask you what I 
must do to be saved" 

"My dear friend," said Mr. N , "if 

that be the way, I shall be happy to talk with 
you as long as you please." And they did 
talk together and pray together; and the 



MR. N — AND THE UNIVERSALIST. 245 

result was that the Universalist became a 
happy believer and a preacher of the truth 
which he had previously laboured to pervert 
and destroy. 

]STow, my object in writing out this anec- 
dote is not to afford the reader a few minutes' 
amusement, but to impress upon his mind 
and my own that the thousands of errors 
and heresies which lurk in the depraved 
hearts of sinners are not to be dislodged by 
our logic or our reasonings. In fact, the 
votaries of error love to encounter us, as this 
zealous Universalist sought to encounter Mr. 
]ST ; but they cannot endure those living- 
words which fell from the lips of Him who is 

the way, the truth, and the life. Mr. N , 

by sinking himself, honoured his Saviour and 
was instrumental in saving a soul from death. 



The Mr. N spoken of in the foregoing article 

was the Rev. Herman Norton, late Corresponding Se- 
cretary of the American and Foreign Christian Union, 
— a man who laboured long and wore himself out in his 
Master's service. He was a man of superior talents 
and a most devoted Christian. The article was written 
and published during his lifetime ; but now, since his 
death, there is, I think, no indelicacy in inserting this 
note, nor in saying that I had the anecdote from his 
own lips. 

21* 



246 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 



All under the whole heavens had for 
months been one waste of waters, — the very- 
image of turbulence, desolation, and death. 
Notwithstanding the promises of his God, 
who had been so very good to him, and in 
spite of the workings of his well-tried faith, 
the heart of Noah would sink within him, 
and the exclamation would often rise to his 
lips, u O Lord, how long?" At length the 
time of deliverance drew near. The ark was 
grounded upon the lofty summit of Ararat. 
Noah opened a window and sent forth a dove. 
After traversing the hideous waste until her 
tired pinions could no longer sustain her, she 
returned to the ark, to the kind and faithful 
hand that sent her forth. 

Noah's dove, in her first effort, is a lively 
emblem of the prayer of faith for a world 
overwhelmed with the floods of iniquity: it 
explores the gloomy expanse, but can find no 
place upon which to rest the sole of her feet. 



noah's doye. 247 

Weary and sad at the prospect, it returns to 
the bosom of him who sent it forth. 

So is it with him who is in Christ, the ark 
of safety, while making the voyage of life. 
Like Noah's dove, he is sent forth to wander 
over a sin-ruined world; but in it he can find 
nothing upon which he can rest his hopes or 
his affections. Like the dove, he returns to 
the ark, saying, "Beturn unto thy rest, O 
my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully 
with thee." 

ISToah also sent forth a raven; but in the 
vestiges of death and destruction everywhere 
found upon the troubled surface of the great 
deep it found its appropriate food, and it 
returned no more to the ark. Oh, what a 
striking emblem does this foul bird afford of 
him who forsakes God and gluts his depraved 
appetite on the sinful pleasures and profits 
of this evil world ! 

Again JNoah sends forth the dove, as again 
the Christian will send forth the prayer of 
faith. "What is this she bears back to the 
now joyful patriarch ? " Lo, in her mouth 
an olive-leaf plucked off!" It was a little 
thing, but a glorious harbinger of good. It 
spoke of life and peace. It was like the 
angel's song, "Glory to God in the highest; 



248 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

on earth peace, good will to men." Noah 
was glad; hope sprang exulting in his de- 
sponding soul. So is the Christian glad when 
the prayer of faith brings back an answer of 
peace. 

Dear reader, I have but glanced at this 
beautiful emblem.. Follow it up. Let the 
example of Noah stimulate you to send forth 
doves over this sin-deluged world. They will 
return to you with blessings, with emblems 
of life and love and peace, — peace to your 
own soul, peace to a rausomed world. 



This is a name around which cluster a 
world of sacred and solemn associations. 
David and Solomon, and a long line of 
Judean kings, lived and laboured and died 
in Jerusalem. Prophets and priests, long 
since numbered with the dead, fulfilled their 
high missions there, and their writings have 
given to that ancient city a freshness, an 
immortality, unlike that of any other. 

There Jesus laboured and taught more than 



JERUSALEM. 249 

in any other city; and there he was rejected 
and by wicked hands was crucified and slain. 
Thus his precious name became associated 
with that of Jerusalem so closely that we can 
hardly think of the one without the other. 

When Messiah was cut off, — when he had 
put an end to the sacrificial worship by his 
one great offering, — the mission of Jerusalem 
seemed to be accomplished. It died with 
him, and soon after it was swept as with the 
besom of destruction. 

Jerusalem was the city of the Great King. 
His glory was its glory; and when he had 
finished his work and left it, it sunk into 
darkness and contempt. ~No king ever after- 
wards held his court there; no prophet's voice 
was ever again heard in its streets, and no 
sweet singer after his departure awoke its 
echoes with his lofty praise. 

Literal Jerusalem is dead; but there is a 
living Jerusalem, which is still the city of the 
Great King. Heaven is called Jerusalem, 
and rightly so, for it too is the city of the 
Great King. But we are speaking of earth. 
"Where is Jerusalem?" says the eloquent 
and gifted Krummacher. "Where tears of 
mourning after God start into the eye; where 
the knee and the heart are bowed at the 



250 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

throne of grace; where the hands of faith are 
lifted to the cross, and lips of sincerity utter 
their prayers and praise, — there is Jerusalem. 

" Jerusalem ! Oh, it is good to be within 
thy walls, to sit together as fellow-citizens, 
according to the privilege of the new birth ; 
to siog together in the ways of the Lord, 
that great is the glory of the Lord in the 
midst of us; to speak one with another upon 
faith's bright prospects that lie before us; to 
number up our joys with which the stranger 
intermeddleth not; or to place ourselves at 
the windows toward the east, and breathe 
the morning air of the everlasting day and 
refresh ourselves with thoughts of the blissful 
futurity that awaits us. i Oh, Jerusalem, if I 
forget thee, let my right hand forget its 
cunning I' " 

Next to the name of Jesus, that of Jeru- 
salem is sweet to the ear and heart of a 
believer, for it speaks of goodness and mercy 
in ages past ; it is expressive of the Church, 
the city of our God, now existing and grow- 
ing up under the light of his countenance; it 
is an emblem of the renewed heart, a temple 
of the Holy Ghost; and it is but another name 
for that city whose builder and maker is God, 
— our eternal home. If we are in Christ. 



JERUSALEM. 251 

then behind us, around us, and before us is 
Jerusalem. " Here," says God, " is my rest 
forever; here will I dwell." Where? He 
inhabit eth eternity. He dwells in the high 
and holy place f but with him also " who is 
of an humble and contrite spirit, and who 
trembles at his word;" and where God dwells 
there is Jerusalem. 

Yes, literal Jerusalem is dead. In its 
gloomy streets the inhabitants glide about 
more like ghosts than men, and in its places 
of prayer are heard only the mummery and 
mutterings of dead forms; but of the spiritual 
Jerusalem glorious things have been spoken, 
and in it glorious things have been and will 
be done. In that great day of revival when 
the Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, 
then shall the entire Church behold what 
John saw in vision, — the "New Jerusalem 
coming down from God out of heaven, pre- 
pared as a bride adorned for her husband." 



252 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 



fife an* gtaife. 

God is the fountain of life. Union with 
him is life to us; separation is death. Adam 
sinned, and thus separated himself from God. 
Spiritual death followed as an inevitable con- 
sequence. It was impossible that it could be 
otherwise. He was a spiritual suicide. He — 
not God — inflicted death upon his soul ; and 
then, in infinite wisdom and goodness, God 
inflicted death upon his body, as the only 
possible way in which the soul could be re- 
stored to life. It has the appearance of seve- 
rity; but in nothing except the unspeakable 
gift of his only-begotten Son is his mercy 
more strikingly displayed. Think, if you can 
grasp the hideous thought, of sinful men 
living forever! I cannot conceive of any 
thing more terrible. No death in the world, 
then no Saviour could have died. No natural 
death, then earth and hell would have been 
one and the same thing; the blackness of 
darkness forever would have settled down 
upon the whole race. 



LIFE AND DEATH. 253 

Can we thank God for the infliction of 
natural death ? Surely we can. Like all his 
works, it is "very good." I love to view it 
as the first in the great work of redemption ; 
as the first expression of the loving kindness 
of our heavenly Father. 

The death of the body, then, according to 
this view, is a blessing. Yes. Is it a blessing 
to all ? It is, so far as it opens a door of hope 
to all. But, like all other blessings, it may 
be converted, by obstinate unbelief and im- 
penitency, into a curse. To the believer, to 
him who has fled for refuge to the hope set 
before him in the gospel, it is an unspeakable 
blessing. To him "to die is gain." The death 
of the sinful, sinning nature restores him to 
perfect spiritual life in Christ; and, through 
death, even it will be raised again at the last 
day in glory, honour, and immortality. 

I think these are wholesome and scriptural 
views of this solemn subject. I am aware 
that many regard the sentence passed upon 
man in Eden as the act of a severe and in- 
exorable Judge rather than that of a kind 
and merciful Father. But it is a gloomy, 
cheerless, and, I think, erroneous view. It 
ought never to be separated in thought from 
the great work of human salvation; for it 

22 



254 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

constituted an indispensable part of it. In 
it " mercy and truth meet together, righteous- 
ness and peace kiss each other." 

In the antediluvian world human life was 
extended to several centuries, and men con- 
versed with their descendants to the seventh 
generation. As all knowledge, historical, re- 
ligious, and scientific, had then to be trans- 
mitted orally, there seemed to be a necessity 
for this great length of life. 

To us such length of days would seem like 
immortality. But what was the moral effect 
of this longevity? Although under an eco- 
nomy of grace, although the Holy Spirit 
strove with them, and a few holy men faith- 
fully warned them to flee from the wrath to 
come, yet " all flesh corrupted his way before 
God;" "the earth was filled with violence ;" 
and God declared that Noah was the only 
righteous man in that generation. Bad as the 
world is now, bad as its state has been at any 
time since the flood, such universal apostasy 
never occurred at any subsequent period. 

The reduction of human life to one-tenth 
of what it was before the flood is therefore 
a merciful dispensation. Although men live 
but a few years now, yet Providence has 
surrounded them with such marvellous fa- 



LIFE AND DEATH. 255 

cilities for the acquisition and transmission 
of knowledge that they are able to avail 
themselves of longer and more varied expe- 
rience than the antediluvians. Enoch con- 
versed with Adam, and Noah with Enoch; 
but we can converse, by means of written 
truth, with Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, with 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with Moses, and 
Samuel, and David, with kings and prophets, 
who, though dead, yet speak. We can follow 
Him who went about doing good, and hear 
the gracious words that issued from his lips. 
"We can stand with Paul on Mars' Hill, and 
share in the wondrous visions of John in 
Patmos. The great drama of the Eeforma- 
tion we can cause to be re-enacted as often 
as we please; and the mighty movements of 
our own time are all brought as it were 
under our eye. Talk of the great experience 
of Methuselah — it was nothing to that of the 
well-informed man of our own day. 

"I am the resurrection and the life. He that 
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall 
he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me 
shall never die/' When the Saviour uttered 
these words, he immediately made the em- 
phatic inquiry, "Believest thou this?" And 
well may we put the same inquiry to our own 



ZOO THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

hearts. The declaration is so at variance 
with our carnal or natural sense, so different 
from the common current of our ideas, that 
few — perhaps none — helieve it in that strong, 
realizing sense that the obvious import of 
the words require. 

What, then, is life, — the life here spoken of 
by the Saviour ? It is not natural life, — the 
life we live here in the flesh. It is something 
else. It is that life restored to us which was 
lost in Eden. It is more. It is a partaking 
of the life of Christ himself. It is not only 
life in a higher sense than Adam possessed 
it, but a confirmation in it by all the guaran- 
tees that infinite faithfulness and power can 
throw around it. Adam died; but "He 

THAT BELIEVETH IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE." 

He is united to Christ, one with him ; there- 
fore, "as I live, he shall live also." This 
blessed state is elsewhere called "newness 
of life •" a life essentially different from that 
of mere creatures; a life not inherent, but 
derived, not in ourselves, but in Christ. 

The moment the soul is united to Christ by 
faith, this life begins. To him the Saviour's 
words may be applied, "He shall never die." 
To him that change which God in mercy in- 
flicts upon his sinful flesh is no longer death 



LIFE AND DEATH. 257 

It is a change, — a change from which, the 
flesh recoils, but in which the soul exults. 
It is death, or dissolution, to the one ; it is 
life to the other. This is the view Jesus de- 
sires us to take of it. It is a change, — a 
change from imperfect to perfect life ; from a 
body of sin and death to fulness of life; from 
danger and strife to security and peace; from 
partial evil to perfect good. 

This life, this spiritual, eternal life, begins 
the moment a sinner believes in Christ. He 
eats of that bread which came down from 
heaven; he drinks of that living water of 
which the Saviour spoke to the woman at 
the well. He can hunger no more, neither 
can he thirst any more; for he has within 
him " a well of water springing up into ever- 
lasting life." It is not that he shall hereafter 
be put in possession of the great boon of 
eternal life, but he is already in possession 
of it. He "will never die." 

By putting off the idea of eternal life to a 
future state of existence, we rob ourselves of 
much comfort and joy, and fail to glorify 
God. In nothing else is the obstinacy of our 
unbelief more strikingly exhibited than in 
this. And why is it? It is because we 
esteem ourselves to be flesh rather than 

22* 



258 THOUGHTS OP FAVOURED HOURS. 

spirit. We esteem the soul to be an ap- 
pendage to the body, rather than that the 
body is an appendage to the soul. We all, 
to be sure, acknowledge the spirit of man to 
be the more excellent part ; but this abstract 
acknowledgment is one thing, our habitual 
thought or feeling is a very different thing. 
The mortal body is always present to the 
mind; the immortal soul only occasionally. 
The wants and desires of the one afford the 
spring to almost all our actions; the other 
only receives attention when the clamours of 
its rival are quieted. Is it not so ? Is it to 
be wondered at, therefore, that when I say 
"me" I chiefly mean my corporal frame, to- 
gether with those thinking faculties which it has 
brought into thraldom? When I say, "I live," 
I mean my animal life; and when I speak of 
death, it is not necessary to say I mean the 
death of the body. Thus we habitually talk, 
which proves that thus we habitually think; 
and thus that greater and more excellent life 
which Jesus purchased is thrust out of mind. 
It is not what we know, what we have 
learned, what we believe, that gives cha- 
racter to the mind; but it is what fills the 
mind, what it loves to cherish, — in one word, 
what we love. If we are partakers of that 



LIFE AND DEATH. 259 

new life, it will struggle to bring every 
thought into captivity to Christ; and it will 
succeed. The "true riches" will overcome 
the perishing vanities of time and sense; the 
soul will gain the ascendency over the body, 
and thus all things be brought into that 
order, harmony, and beauty that reigned be- 
fore sin entered into the world. 

Eternal life is only the continuation and 
perfection of spiritual life. Even in this life 
it is far beyond what eye had seen, or ear 
heard, or the heart of the natural man con- 
ceived. Paul speaks of "joy unspeakable 
and full of glory/ ' What, then, must that 
state be wherein we shall be like the glorified 
Eedeemer and "see him as he is;" when 
"the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall 
lead his people to fountains of living water, 
and God himself shall wipe all tears from 
their eyes;" when every faculty of the 
soul shall be brought into perfect harmony 
with the divine will; when all desirable 
knowledge shall be opened freely to the ever- 
growing, ever-expanding mind; when we 
shall dwell in a world of vast population, all 
holy, all kind and affectionate, all happy and 
intent on diffusing happiness around them, 
where heart will knit to heart in ever-during 



260 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

harmony, and all unite in one song of praise 
"to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to 
the Lamb for ever and ever;" where nothing 
can annoy, nothing alarm? The life and bliss 
of the inhabitants will be as firm and lasting 
as the throne of God; they being indeed his 
beloved children, whom he has created, and 
redeemed, and brought home to himself. 
Then will the Saviour's prayer be fully 
answered : — "Father, I will that they whom 
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that 
they may behold my glory." 

And is this the destiny of the Christian? 
It is; and ten thousand times more than 
tongue or pen can express. It is ; we know 
it is, but we do not believe it. Our lives, our 
tempers, our petty cares, prove that we do 
not practically believe it, that we do not 
realize it as we ought. Possessors of eternal 
life, and yet careful and troubled about the 
fleeting things of a day! Joint heirs with 
Christ to an inheritance incorruptible, unde- 
filed, and that fadeth not away, and yet, it 
may be, striving with a fellow-heir about 
some trifle of this world's goods ! Children 
of God, and yet afraid that he will not give 
us what we need for the present life ! Pil- 
grims and strangers upon earth, yet more 



LIFE AND DEATH. 261 

concerned about the provisions and amuse- 
ments of the way than what awaits us at the 
end of our journey ! Such is the sad picture 
of many who are really heirs of eternal life. 
But eternal life belongs to those, and those 
only, who are in Christ. Those who are out 
of Christ are heirs of a far different inherit- 
ance. 

" Oh, -what eternal horrors hang 
Around the second death !" 

They are spiritually dead while in this 
life; "without hope and without God in the 
world." The body dies, and the soul passes 
into a state of eternal death. We have de- 
fined death to be a state of separation from 
God. As in this life the saint is not separated 
from all evil, so the sinner in this life is not 
separated from all good. But in the eternal 
state the separation in both cases is complete. 
In heaven, God is love, and his approving 
smile diffuses ineffable bliss throughout its 
bright and peaceful mansions; so in hell 
"our God is a consuming fire," and that aw- 
fully holy and reproving Presence, from which 
the lost soul can never escape, will constitute 
the chief ingredient in his bitter cup. So it 
is sometimes felt to be even before the spirit 
departs. " thou blasphemed yet indulgent 



262 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

Lord God Almighty/' said the dying Alta- 
mont, "hell itself would be a refuge could it 
hide me from thy frown I" As in heaven all 
is love, so in hell all is hate, — intense, malig- 
nant hate, of which we can form no concep- 
tion. As in heaven all is harmony, so in 
hell all is discord. In heaven the anthems 
of praise will never cease; so hell will re- 
sound with everlasting blasphemy, varied 
only with "wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
This is eternal death. Reflection upon it 
now, even though it harrow the soul, may be 
salutary, and induce us to flee from the wrath 
to come. 

" Lord God of truth and grace, 
Teach us that death to shun." 



%\t feari 

In the complex mechanism of the human 
mind, God has made the affections the living, 
governing principle, the motive power. Even 
the understanding is a subordinate power, 
and is carried by the affections whithersoever 
they will. This great living, moving, govern- 



THE HEART. 263 

ing power is in the Scriptures denominated 
the heart. "With, the heart man believes/' 
with the heart he obeys, and to the heart the 
Holy Spirit directs his appeals. 

No true religious knowledge can ever reach 
the understanding except through the heart. 
Love and obedience, a willing subjection of 
the heart to Christ, is the first step in Chris- 
tian life; and then, and not before, true light 
will break into the understanding, — warm, 
living, life-giving light, light that will cause 
the subject of it to grow in grace and to obey 
the truth. Then, and only then, will the 
Saviour's words be realized in him, " If a man 
will do my works, he shall know of the doc- 
trine whether it be of God." This is a 
precious promise, and, like the words of Him 
who uttered it, it sheds light all around it. 
As a declaration, it shows us the true source 
and medium of light j as a promise, it relieves 
the mind from that anxiety with which it is 
so apt to be filled, arising from a thousand 
questions of doubtful disputation. And how 
sweetly it accords with the promise uttered 
by the Psalmist ! — "To the upright light shall 
arise in darkness." 

Mary's heart was right when she sat at the 
feet of Jesus, and she loved and enjoyed the 



264 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

light which he shed around him. The under- 
standings of the Pharisees were not at fault, 
while their hearts hated and fled from the 
same light. With minds full of religious 
knowledge, they " sat in darkness." Are 
there no such people now? 

We often hear addresses from the pulpit, 
learned, logical, and sound, but so cold and 
lifeless that the heart is perfectly unaffected. 
Such preaching is an attempt to invert the 
order of the Christian warfare. With the 
heart man contends with his Maker. The 
heart is the great rebel, not the head. The 
heart is supreme : the understanding is subor- 
dinate, and is dragged or led whithersoever 
the heart dictates. Let that rebel, and all is 
in rebellion j let that be captured, and all is 
brought into captivity; let that be in dark- 
ness, and all is dark; let that be enlightened, 
and all is light. The heart is the king of 
Israel. 

When Ahab went out with his army to 
fight with the King of Syria, the latter 
issued a singular order: — "Fight neither with 
small nor great, save only with the King of 
Israel." The order was a wise one, as the 
sequel proved. An arrow pierced and slew 
the king, and all his followers and supporters 



HEAVES — ITS ATTRACTIONS. 265 

fled. Let this, therefore, become a standing 
order in the Christian camp; for while the 
King of Israel lives and fights we can make 
no impression upon the host of his followers 
and supporters. 



The weary love to dwell upon the thought 
of heaven as a place of rest; the sorrowful, 
as a place of joy; the troubled soul longs for 
it as a state of peace and repose ; the poor 
and needy look forward to it as a place where 
every want shall be supplied and they shall 
be filled with all the fulness of God ; and the 
ardent Christian longs for its glory and 
beauty and lofty praise. These'are all right. 
But there is one other character whose aspira- 
tions are more fervent than any of these : it 
is the sin-burdened soul who longs for it as a 
place of holiness. To him its rest, its peace, 
its fulness, and its glory, are delightful 
thoughts; but the glorious anticipation that 
there he shall be free from sin is the most 
joyful of all. To enjoy the blessed privilege 

23 



266 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

of joining in that song "to Him that washed 
us in his blood" is to him the sweetest hope 
that clusters around the thought of heaven. 
While thinking of it, he loves to sing, — 
" There we shall see his face, 
And never, never sin.'" 

The nearer we get to heaven, the more 
ardent will be our longings for this greatest 
of all the blessings of salvation. Cowper, 
near the close of his sweet but sorrowful life, 
bursts out, in triumph at this thought,— 
' ' When that happy era begins, 

When array'd in his glory I shine, 
And no longer pierce with my sins 
The bosom on which I recline." 

When the angel announced to Mary the 
great fact that she was chosen to be the 
mother of the Saviour, he said, "Thou shalt 
call his name Jesus, because he shall save his 
people from their sins." He did not say that 
he should save his people from the wrath of 
God, from eternal death, from the punishment 
they justly merited, but from their sins. The 
great thing in salvation, and that which 
carries every thing else with it, is the change 
from a sinful to a holy nature; and the love 
of God, the glories and joys of heaven, all 
follow as necessary concomitants. 



HEAVEN A LOCAL HABITATION. 267 

Christian, is this your chief desire, is this 
the sweetest ingredient in your hope of 
heaven ? or have you merely some vague 
idea of happiness, without connecting with it 
the idea of holiness ? It is a vain hope. 
There can be no peace, no rest, no joy, with- 
out holiness. None but the pure in heart 
can see God or dwell in his presence. Let 
this be your prayer: — "Create in me a clean 
hearty God, and renew a right spirit within 
me." Let this sweet and beautiful aspiration 
ever be the language of your heart, whether 
you express it audibly or not ; and then you 
may hope to grow in meetness for heaven. 



An interesting proof of the truth of the 
religion of the Bible is the style in which the 
sacred writers treat this subject. They do 
not attempt a literal description of the 
heavenly world. Even the Son of God him- 
self, who dwelt there from eternity, did not 
attempt it. And Paul, who was caught up 
and favoured with a sight of the Paradise of 



268 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

God and heard its language and its music, 
did not. He says he heard " unspeakable 
words, which it is not lawful for man to 
utter/' and this is all that he can tell us. 
Jesus speaks of it as his Father's house, in 
which are many mansions, — a real and sub- 
stantial habitation ; and in another place he 
says, " Great is your reward in heaven," 
which still carries with it the idea of a home 
or habitation, a dwelling-place. But most 
of these expressions are figures drawn from 
the familiar things of earth, — things which 
most nearly resemble that of which he spoke. 
When Paul exclaimed, "Eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him," he doubt- 
less had heaven in his mind, and speaks of it 
as not only indescribable, but inconceivable. 
John, in the 21st and 22d chapters of Eeve- 
lation, in the strongest imagery which earth 
can afford, speaks of its outward adornments 
under the image of a city. In this sublime 
aggregation of figures he groups together all 
that is pure, beautiful, brilliant, and imperish- 
able in this world, to set forth the unfading 
glories of that. He could go no further; nor 
could we follow him if he had. 



HEAVEN — A LOCAL HABITATION. 269 

Mohammed ; in his Koran, on the other 
hand, gives a very minute and circumstantial 
account of his Paradise; and, as the stream 
could not rise higher than the fountain, it 
consists altogether of objects with which he 
was acquainted, monstrously exaggerated, 
and of sensual delights, in which the coarsest 
and most corrupt of men could participate, 
and from which the pure and holy would turn 
away in disgust. 

The Buddhists — the followers of a teacher 
who lived about a thousand years before 
Christ, from whom they take their name, 
and who this day far outnumber those who 
bear the name of Christ, both Catholic and 
Protestant — have no heaven in their belief. 
They hold that the human soul is an ema- 
nation from Deity; and that, after death, it 
will again be united to matter and subjected 
to the miseries of life, unless the individual 
to whom it belongs, by the attainment of 
wisdom through prayer and contemplation, 
shall succeed in liberating it from that neces- 
sity, and secure its absorption into that divine 
essence from which it sprung. Their gloomy 
faith affords no higher hope than that of 
flitting from one suffering, dying body to 
another, or of being absorbed, — lost, as to 

23* 



270 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

personal identity and consciousness, even as 
a drop of rain is lost in the ocean. A gloomy 
prospect ! How unlike the glorious hopes set 
before us in the gospel ! " I go to prepare a 
place for you," says Jesus; "and if I go and 
prepare a place for you, I will come again 
and receive you unto myself; that where I 
am, there ye may be also." Again he says, 
"Father, I will that they also whom thou 
hast given me be with me where I am, that 
they may behold my glory." John exclaims, 
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and 
it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but 
we know that when he shall appear we shall 
be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 
Even John could not tell what we should be 
in heaven, farther than this, — that we should 
be like Him. That was enough. And we 
shall be in him, — not swallowed up, lost, 
annihilated, forgotten, but continuing forever 
in the full enjoyment of distinct personal 
identity, — and he in us. 

We are clearly taught to regard heaven 
as a place, a world, a city whose Builder and 
Maker is God, " a house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens." Now, while these 
expressions all denote that it has a sub- 
stantial, material existence, yet, from the fact 



HEAVEN — A LOCAL HABITATION. 271 

that so many figures are used to represent it, 
we may infer that none of them, and that 
indeed nothing in this world, is adequate to 
convey a proper idea of it. It is surpassingly 
glorious and beautiful. "There is no night 
there/' It has no need of the sun, neither 
of the moon, to shine in it ; for the glory of 
God and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

This earth, cursed as it is, and the abode 
of sin and sorrow, is nevertheless exceedingly 
beautiful, as it rolls its verdant and diversified 
bosom to the source of its light and life, and 
then majestically turns away into the shade 
of night, that we may see the still more 
remote and sublime splendours of the starry 
heavens. What, then, must that world be 
where G-od has fixed his eternal throne and 
unveils to the gaze of its inhabitants his 
uncreated glory and beauty? 

Of the joys and employments of heaven 
we are able to form more adequate concep- 
tions than we can of its appearance and out- 
ward adornments; for whoever has rejoiced 
with joy unspeakable, and felt the love of 
God like a flood filling his heart, has tasted 
of the joys of heaven. It is the same in kind; 
it differs only in degree. ''His servants 
shall serve him." They will delight to do 



272 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

his will. They shall be like the angels, who 
are ministering spirits, and like Christ, who 
went about doing good. At the same time, 
grateful homage will ever arise "to Him that 
sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for 
ever and ever." 

As on earth there is a great diversity of 
tastes, talents, capacities, and spiritual gifts, 
so we may believe there is in heaven. Even 
the angels, the natives of that bright and 
holy world, although we know but little of 
their personal character and history, appear 
to differ from each other in character and 
office. Although equally holy and happy, 
and serving with equal fidelity and zeal their 
great Master and King, yet even we, little 
as we know of them, can see a marked dis- 
tinction of rank in what is revealed of them. 
So, doubtless, will the redeemed ones from 
earth differ, not only in personal traits and 
fitness for certain service, but also in rank 
and degrees of glory, even as one star differ- 
eth from another star in glory. 



RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 273 



lesratta at t\t §0ftjj- 

"I will praise thee," says David, "for I 
am fearfully and wonderfully made;" and 
every pious heart must respond to the senti- 
ment. It has pleased God to give to man 
a being wonderfully complex. In him the 
natures of the lower animals are found incor- 
porated with those of the highest spiritual 
intelligences. "A worm! a god!" is the 
exclamation of Dr. Young, while endeavour- 
ing to give utterance to his impressions of the 
nature of man. In him one nature is found 
blended with another; and the careful student 
of man will not fail to find in the human 
conformation and character types of almost 
every species of the lower animated creation; 
and when we contemplate the mental and 
moral varieties found among mankind, we 
may confidently infer that man, in his 
spiritual nature, is also allied to every order 
of spiritual and intelligent existence. 

But a greater and more wonderful fact than 



274 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

any of these is clearly and explicitly revealed, 
— even that God himself took upon him a 
mortal body and was " manifest in the flesh." 
Well might the apostle exclaim, "Great is 
the mystery of godliness I" whilst contem- 
plating that glorious Being in whose nature 
is incorporated all that is in man, all that is 
in God. This union of spirit with flesh and 
of God with man ennobles all, glorifies, all, 
immortalizes all. So related, so allied, so 
blended in being with the immortal spirit 
and with the Father of spirits, the body of 
the believer in Christ can never perish. 
Christ's body rose and lives, and will live 
forever; and, when he was on earth, he said, 
"This is the Father's will which hath sent 
me, that of all which he hath given me I 
should lose nothing, but should raise it up 
again at the last day." This certainly has 
reference to the bodies of his people; for he 
says, in another place, "The hour is coming 
in which all that are in the grave shall hear 
his voice, and shall come forth; they that 
have done good to the resurrection of life, 
and they that have done evil to the resur- 
rection of damnation." This awful declara- 
tion is so plain and emphatic that I shall cite 
no further proofs of the doctrine, although 



RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 275 

numberless scriptures might be quoted in 
corroboration. 

That the disembodied spirit of man lives 
and enjoys or suffers according as its moral 
character may be, is a truth plainly taught 
in the Scriptures. Paul speaks of being 
absent from the body, but present with the Lord; 
and he says it, not as if he were enunciating 
a new and strange doctrine, but merely 
alluding to a familiar truth. Jesus said to 
the penitent thief on the cross, " To-day shalt 
thou be with me in Paradise ;" but certainly 
his body was not in Paradise, for it only filled 
a felon's grave. Neither was the body of 
Jesus that day in Paradise. They, therefore, 
met there as disembodied spirits. Again : 
"The rich man died and was buried, and in 
hell he lifted up his eyes." Let these cita- 
tions suffice to prove that doctrine. 

But redemption is incomplete until the 
body is delivered from the power of death. 
The disembodied spirit of the believer doubt- 
less will be happy beyond the power of 
expression to set forth; but still that state 
must necessarily be imperfect; and we cannot 
believe otherwise than that the soul of the 
just man in heaven looks forward with 
earnest expectation to that day which shall 



276 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

reunite him with that other part of his 
nature which still lies under the curse of a 
broken law. 

Paul lays great stress upon the doctrine of 
the resurrection of the body ; and none of the 
sacred writers so often and so pointedly speak 
of it. Every Christian reader is familiar with 
what he says on the subject, so that I need 
not quote his language, except so far as may 
be necessary in the discussion of this most 
interesting subject. " It is sown/' says he, " a 
natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 
What a spiritual body is, is to our present 
imperfect comprehension a profound mys- 
tery; but the apostle throws as much light 
upon it as it is possible to do when he says 
that the bodies of believers will be like the 
glorious body of their risen Lord. That body 
was material and substantial ; for he said to 
his alarmed and incredulous disciples, on one 
occasion, when he appeared to them after his 
resurrection, "Handle me and see; for a 
spirit [meaning a pure, simple, disembodied 
spirit, or an apparition] hath not flesh and 
bones as ye see me have." His hands, his 
feet, his lips and tongue, performed their 
appropriate functions as formerly, and u he 
did eat before them." All this goes to prove 



RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 277 

the perfect restoration of the body to all its 
powers of action, and of course of sensation ; 
to its capacity for enjoyment or suffering; 
and those powers and capacities doubtless 
greatly enhanced, as well as rendered inde- 
structible and exhaustless. 

But the Saviour, on several occasions, 
appeared in the midst of his disciples sud- 
denly, the doors being shut; and several times, 
in the same inexplicable manner, he vanished 
out of their sight. How a body having flesh 
and bones could thus appear and disappear is 
beyond comprehension ; for I am inclined to 
believe that there was no miracle wrought on 
these occasions, but that these mysterious 
movements were designed to afford us some 
faint conception of the nature and capabilities 
of a spiritual body. On these occasions he 
had not assumed the overpowering splendour 
of his heavenly glory, such as Saul, on the 
road to Damascus, and John, in the isle of 
Patmos, saw; but it was the same body he 
carried to heaven from the Mount of Olives, 
and in which he sat down on the right hand 
of the Majesty on high. 

Now, when the mind seeks to penetrate to 
the unseen realities of the eternal world, and 
endeavours to solve the mysteries of our 
24 



278 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

nature beyond the resurrection, let what we 
know of the risen Saviour be its guide. He 
walked, he ate, he held familiar intercourse 
with his friends and brethren; he brought 
every bodily sense and function into its usual 
activity; and yet he was different from what 
he was before his death. Though clothed in 
a substantial, material body, he acted at times 
as a free, unclogged spirit. Of his body it was 
emphatically true, "it was sown a natural 
body, it was raised a spiritual body." Truly, 
this is a great mystery; and it may be that 
in our present imperfect state we are not 
capable of understanding more than it has 
pleased God to reveal. In the person of 
Jesus, our great Forerunner and Exemplar, 
we have an example of the resurrection; and 
from it we may gather more unerring ideas 
than we possibly could do from any abstract 
revelation. 

In the full blaze of this glorious doctrine, 
how pleasant and refreshing is the thought 
of death and the grave ! Death is seen to be 
but a temporary sleep; corruption a refining 
process, a part in that great change which 
converts mortal to immortal, natural to 
spiritual, weakness to power. 



RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 279 

"Corruption, earth, and worms 
Shall but refine the flesh, 
Till my triumphant spirit comes 
To put it on afresh." 

Guided by the example already cited, we 
may safely indulge in exulting expectation 
of that glorious state which awaits the Chris- 
tian beyond the resurrection. Redemption 
will then be complete. The soul, perfectly 
sanctified, will once more act through the 
media of bodily faculties and powers. These 
eyes will see the King in his beauty, and 
these tongues hold converse with him and 
with all the glorious beings by whom we 
shall be surrounded. These hands will once 
more be active in the most delightful employ- 
ments; and 

" These feet with angel- wings shall vie, 
And tread the palace of the sky." 

Then we shall be like Him who, when he 
was in our world, was like us. We shall see 
him as he is, — that is, as God manifest in the 
flesh, at once our God and our Brother. 
All that we know in this life of endearing 
relationships, father, brother, husband, friend, 
are used by the Holy Spirit to give us as 
strong impressions as we are capable of 



280 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

receiving of the exceeding nearness and 
dearness of the relation which will eternally 
subsist between the Eedeemer and his ran- 
somed and glorified ones; and then, when 
every metaphor and illustration had been 
pressed into the service to do what they 
could in showing us the wonderful love of 
God our Saviour, it is added, " Eye hath not 
seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered 
into the heart of man to conceive, the things 
that God has prepared for them that love 
him." 

The habitual thought of death and eternity 
is highly salutary, provided our minds are 
animated and guided by a true and living 
faith. Faith will enable us to get a glimpse 
of the glory that lies beyond the gloom; and 
when we see that we will love to gaze at it. 
But until we can regard death and the grave 
in the light of the resurrection, they will 
only at times force themselves as unwelcome 
intruders into our minds; and it is a fact 
that we have the power, and are too much 
inclined to exercise it, of keeping such 
thoughts out. To do so is bad every way. 
There is nothing so certain as death; but 
if we are unwilling to think of it, then it is 
obvious that we cannot be prepared to meet 



ENDLESS PROGRESS. 281 

it. The true way is to be able so to view it 
as that it shall become the most delightful 
subject upon which we can fix our thoughts. 
This is a state of mind perfectly attainable, 
and to which thousands have attained. Let 
the gloom of the grave be dispelled by the 
glories of Immortality and the sorrows of 
death be swallowed up in the joys of Hope. 



To the contemplative mind there is some- 
thing deeply interesting in the growth of a 
vegetable from the germ to the utmost deve- 
lopment of which it is capable, whether that 
vegetable be a plant of a single season's con- 
tinuance, or a tree that lives, and thrives, and 
expands for centuries. Both are formed on 
the same general type; both possess that 
mysterious principle of life which lays all 
its surroundings under tribute and compels 
them to minister to its growth. Each as- 
similates to its own peculiar character the 
diverse elements which it draws from the 
earth, the atmosphere, and the light, in 

24* 



282 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

-obedience to that great law given by the 
Creator when he said, "Let the earth bring 
forth the herb yielding seed, and the fruit- 
tree yielding fruit, after his kiiid." 

But the herb and the tree are transient, 
like all things else on this earth. One gene- 
ration of animals, and plants, and trees, suc- 
ceeds to another at intervals more or less 
brief; and the most enduring may be classed 
among things which quickly pass away. God 
has established this as the law of all living 
things on this earth. But there is a world 
the distinguishing characteristic of which is 
eternal life. In that world there is life 
without end, growth without ceasing, deve- 
lopment without the possibility of ever reach- 
ing a point wherein no more knowledge, or 
power, or glory, or holiness, or beauty, or 
felicity can be attained. There is but one 
boundary, and that can never be reached. 
That boundary is the infinitude of God. 

Even in this imperfect state, man has many 
and great powers. His capacity of knowing 
and understanding is wonderful. His power 
over the elements which surround him is 
equally so. And his moral nature, marred, 
obscured, perverted, and fettered as it is by 
sin, is even here, both by nature and by grace, 



ENDLESS PROGRESS. 283 

capable of godlike manifestations. The de- 
voted husband and wife, the filial child, the 
patriot hero, the suffering yet rejoicing saint, 
the Christian martyr, — all attest the power 
and beauty of those God-given capacities 
with which we are favoured. These we have 
seen, and admired, and rejoiced in. These 
are adapted to the life that now is, to the 
atmosphere of this cold and stormy world, 
and in some instances their development has 
been exceeding great. But we may safely, 
confidently expect that, when the "plants 
of righteousness" shall be transferred from 
this nursery to the paradise above, other 
faculties, other powers, other beauties, of 
which we have no conception, will be deve- 
loped from the mysterious depths of our 
souls, — powers and faculties for receiving and 
imparting enjoyment too delicate for the 
rough atmosphere of earth, too glorious to 
. bloom in this cold, dark world, too beautiful 
for the gaze of wicked men, and too rich to 
be used in the labours of this lower vineyard. 
It were vain, however, to conjecture what 
those powers and capacities are; for it is a 
law of our being that our experience is the 
limit of our ideas. We cannot go beyond, 
however curiously and ingeniously we may 



284 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

arrange and combine our present stock of 
ideas. 

For what we have just said, however, we 
have the testimony of analogy. You plant 
a seed, — it may be the seed of a good fruit, 
an apple or a pear. [Now, watch the law of 
development. At first, two small leaves ap- 
pear just above the surface of the soil; but 
soon you perceive that it is advancing. 
More leaves develop themselves, and a stem. 
Thus it goes on from day to day and from 
week to week, until its further progress is 
arrested by the frosts of winter. Is this 
death? Yes. Will it not live again? "If 
a man die, shall he live again ?" We all say, 
yes. Will not the infant tree just spoken of 
live again ? Yes, certainly; but not more cer- 
tainly than man. Does man live more than 
one season in this world ? Does he survive the 
fall of his leaf, and, after the winter of death 
and the grave, put forth afresh? No; but, 
as the tree often is, he is removed from the 
seed-bed during the period of suspended 
animation, and transferred to another place 
more suitable for perfect development. Now, 
watch the- tree again. New life, or what 
appears to be such, begins to manifest itself; 
leaves more abundant, more beautiful, put 



ENDLESS PROGRESS. 285 

forth. By-and-by, branches appear; and 
presently the form and structure of a perfect 
tree are attained; and thus it goes on, in- 
creasing in size and vigour, until at length it 
puts forth flowers and fruit, and its majestic 
and beautiful crown, composed of multi- 
tudinous branches, is arrayed in glory and 
beauty. This last crowning development is, 
as we all know, the result of an inherent 
power, a power which comes into action at 
the proper time, and not a new power given 
to it for a special purpose. It was in it when 
the two tiny leaves burst through the crust 
of the earth; but who, without experience, 
would or could have imagined its existence 
then ? 

Behold here an image of man, — feeble and 
imperfect, but still an image. Among all 
God's creatures, in their unimaginable va- 
riety, there runs a relationship. Having one 
common Author, they have a family likeness, 
a common type, more or less traceable; and 
in one we never fail to find at least some 
analogy of the nature of all the rest. So in 
the powers of the mature tree we see what 
we have every reason to believe are bound 
up in our natures, — latent as yet, unknown, 
unimagined, but which will come forth in 



286 THOUGHTS OF FAVOURED HOURS. 

due time, under the light of God's counte- 
nance, and nourished by the vital energy of 
the True Yine. 

Another law of the vegetable world is that 
while a plant lives it grows. Growth and life 
terminate together. Now, think of an eternal 
life, a life ever young, ever vigorous, ever 
growing, ever progressing in the process of 
assimilation to the Divine Being, without the 
possibility of ever reaching the end of the 
progress or coming up to the measure of the 
Great Model. What thought can be more 
overwhelming, and yet more inspiring, than 
this? Think of rising, progressing eternally, 
higher, and higher, and higher, — 

"And better thence again, and better still, 
In infinite progression!" 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: March 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 
1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



^LIBRARY OF CONGRES: 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

029 787 238 2 



